


Renovatio

by Jack_Marrow



Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Everyone Lives/Nobody Dies, Angst, Asriel Dreemurr and Flowey are Different People (Undertale), Big Brother W. D. Gaster, Chara (Undertale) Gets Their Own Body, Chekhov's Gun, Eventual Smut, F/F, F/M, Female Chara, Fluff, How Do I Tag, I Don't Even Know, I wrote this instead of studying, Magic system, Named Reader, Nonbinary Frisk (Undertale), Not just JoJo, Oh My God, Oh wait, Original Character(s), Other, Politics - freeform, Reader gets Powers, Reader is Very Perceptive, Red Herrings, SAVED Asriel Dreemurr, SAVED Chara Dreemurr, THERE'S A TAG FOR THAT AS WELL, Tags Are Hard, There's A Tag For That, Undertale Monsters on the Surface, Wait that's a tag?, anyway, but not all that detailed, how could i forget that, lots of references, male!reader
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-02-07
Updated: 2021-02-26
Packaged: 2021-03-18 10:27:36
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 6
Words: 18,460
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29242065
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Jack_Marrow/pseuds/Jack_Marrow
Summary: You are the Vice-Ambassador for the Monster Kingdom. An entire Nation of non-human, sentient beings who are more humane than most humans.But that doesn't mean they don't have their own secrets.Well, your boss did say it wouldn't be easy.(Don't judge a fic by its admittedly bad summary lol)
Relationships: Alphys/Undyne (Undertale), Asgore Dreemurr/Toriel, Asriel Dreemurr/Frisk, Chara (Undertale)/Reader, Sans/Ketchup/Sleep
Comments: 33
Kudos: 32





	1. The First meetings

_Well,_ you think, _this is it. Let's go get that job._ You park your motorbike, and step on the path.

It had been a week since Monsters emerged from under the Mt. Ebott. The position for the Vice Ambassador of Monsters wasn't exactly a hot contest. It would be difficult getting rights for Monsters, and integrating them into society, as their King wished. Their Ambassador echoed this wish. Difficult couldn't possibly come near to describing what was to come. After all, humans were famed for imposing their will on other creatures, justifying actions with a sorry excuse of "With great power comes great responsibility", making shameless use of the fact that the said "weak and poor creatures" had but one fatal flaw, they couldn't communicate with _Homo sapiens_.

And who knew that that main, all powerful fact, that ace up their sleeve, their ticket to dominance, would be countered by the emergence of Monsters from Mt. Ebott, dubbed (rather unimaginatively but aptly) the Emergence. Monsters, who could use Magic and talk English. Monsters, some of whom looked like animals. Monsters, who used Gold as their currency. Had they chosen to withhold that last fact, you doubt the politicians would have been nearly as welcoming. And they aren't all warmth and sunshine now either.

You reach the door, ring the doorbell, and wait.

Monsters as a community, you quickly discovered, were quite tight-knit. Everyone knew everyone else. And it wasn't just a matter of being trapped under the same mountain. As you spent yesterday observing, you not they helped each other as if it was their...lifeforce? They worked together like ants, only more civil, and...something else. You couldn't single out what. You think back, three different Monsters came to your aid when you acted as if you couldn't read the map. That was another thing, they seemed pretty trusting and naive, they didn't seem to know what deception was. And of all issues, that was what worried you the most, politics be damned. You hoped at least some of them were suspicious. It is a necessary evil in this world.

The clicking open of the lock brings you out of your thoughts. _The door was locked. Force of habit, or a precaution?_ your brain notes. The door opens and reveals a tall bipedal...goat-dragon lady? Immediately your brain supplies, _Queen_ _Toriel, Queen Mother of the Monsters. (Ex?)Wife of King Asgore Dreemurr. Strategist, "brains of the operation", possibly the only_ _Monster who is_ _politically aware . Adoptive mother of Ambassador Frisk Dreemurr. Rumoured to be older than a thousand years._

"Greetings. You must be Alex Rider?"

You decide on a grin over a smile. _Make it comfortable, not informal._ "Hello, ma'am. That would indeed be me. I hope I haven't keeping you waiting."

"Not at all. You're right on time." She glances to your right, "On the dot, actually. Oh, where are my manners? Do come in!" 

You step in the sitting room. The whole place, you notice, has a purple tinge, with warm colours. _How are they mixing so well?_ You sit on the sofa. The afternoon filters in through the windows. _They don't have curtains. She probably missed the Sun._ It is...homely. A soft melody flows ethereally, uniform throughout. _Acoustic guitar._ _The quality seems rich. Is someone playing it here?_

"Asgore is busy in discussions with our fellow monsters, on matters related to housing, so he won't be joining us today. Make yourself comfortable, Alex."

"Yes ma'am."

"You can simply address me as Toriel, my child." She says, leaving towards what seems to be the kitchen. _My child? That was fast._

You shrug, and divert your thoughts to the upcoming interview. You would be interviewed by both the Ambassador and the Queen. You were nervous earlier. Now? Not so much. You bring up your info on the Ambassador. _Frisk Dreemurr. Age 19. Nonbinary. Climbed Mt. Ebott for reasons unknown. Reported to media as a fun trek._ Except no-one just climbs Mt. Ebott for fun. _Background unclear. Orphan before adoption by the Queen. Befriended an entire nation in 8 hours._ You pause. What are they? A Speedrunner? 

A sudden whisper interrupts your thoughts, though it is certainly not aimed at you because you seem to be the subject. You notice that the melody is different now, it is what you could only describe as chirpy. Sugary sweet. You keep you eyes closed.

"He's the guy? Why is the idiot sleeping? " _Wow, rude. Wait a minute. Rude? A Monster?_

"He isn't sleeping. He seems to be collecting his thoughts. Probably even listening to us." _Neither a male nor a female voice. The Ambassador. Are they spying on me? Quick perception, though. They aren't going into politics entirely blind, then._

"If he is, why the hell are you still here? Go do your job." _Bossy. Used to a position of power. But the voice seems...childish. Odd._

_Fake._

"I will, Flowey. Let's go." _Flowey, huh._ You grin inwardly. _Wonder what kind of Monster he is. Very hard to guess._ "Mr. Rider?" You look up. They are standing in front of you, a bluish sweater and khaki pants. _Brown eyes. Those eyes have seen some serious shit._ _Get up._

You flash a grin again. "Alex, please. You must be Mx. Dreemurr." _The melody changed again. It's back to that acoustic guitar. But the melody is different._

They seemed surprised at the honorific. "Frisk is fine, Alex. You are, uh, here for the interview, yes?"

They tried to hide a wince at that. They were successful, but you caught it nonetheless. _Not that good at conversations? Or was that a one-time thing?_

"Yes, among other things."

"Really? What else?"

"Meeting the Monsters, of course. It is an exciting prospect and I wish to make the most of my visit."

"Enthusiastic? That is quite comforting. This point of time is quite precarious for everyone concerned after all. I don't expect it's everyday that a new race comes to integrate themselves in human society," Toriel put in. "Have a seat, my child. Shall we begin?"

"Of course."

"So, Alex," The Queen fires off, "You've mentioned you are something called Non-medically neuroatypical." _Oof._ _Note: Add ruthless to the Queen's info._ "Could you tell us what that means?"

"Simply put, Ms. Toriel," you sigh, _I'll probably sound ridiculous,_ "my brain is wired differently. In my case, I can occasionally hear my thought processes."

Frisk leans back into their chair, _at least they're interested,_ "I'm sure so can I."

"You probably hear your thoughts alone, Frisk. I hear the process itself. As a simple example, when I heard you, I heard my brain ordering my legs to get me up, and my mouth to grin, not smile. Small things like that."

"Interesting," Toriel murmurs. "You've also mentioned this is a fact that you take advantage of?"

"Yes. Since I hear my thought processes, I can interrupt them as well, usually giving me nearly full control of my voluntary reactions. In short, I have a very good poker face. This also makes me quite perceptive, and sharper, if I may say so myself."

"I see. That is indeed very useful. And that was the first point we needed to clear. Now then, you are well versed in," Frisk looks at a paper, your application, no doubt, "Japanese, Korean, Hindi, Russian, French, German, Spanish, and Chinese?" Their eyebrows shoot up. "That's a lot of languages."

"I had always been aiming for a job in diplomatic relations."

"Still." They pause, shift a bit and turn their head, as if... _T_ _hey're listening to someone? Or are they just thinking?_ "How thorough are you?"

"Enough to hold a complex conversation."

"You have experience in doing so?" Toriel questions.

"Plenty. I have pen pals quite a few of those countries." You smile.

"Can you argue well?"

"When I'm passionate about the subject. This is one of those."

This goes on for quite a while. Both of them smoothly questioning your life choices.

"Well, seeing as your academic qualifications are quite satisfactory as well," Toriel smiles after a while "I don't see why we can't give you the position."

"Indeed, Mom. Well, congratulations! You're hired. You can join tomorrow. And," _That shift again._ "Oh, I almost forgot. I had been meaning to ask you. You have a daughter?" Toriel seems surprised, and is not bothered to hide it. "You have a daughter, Alex?"

"Oh yes, Stella. She's 10."

"Eh? I mean, uh," Frisk shifts, _this is different. Is she trying to be diplomatic?_ You bite back a smile. "Um, you're just, uh...23?"

You lose it, and chuckle heartily, "She's adopted. I mean," you look up, shoulders shaking with laughter, "I'm not that handsome to become a father at 13."

 _"I might disagree, but that's irrel..."_ You hear an entirely new voice. It seems to come from the direction of Frisk's right shoulder. _The direction they turn?_ _What the..?_

"Ah, yes, of course, I mean, not like that you look nice enough, I mean, you know what I mean," Frisk fumbles. _Are they actually flustered? Huh. Note that._

"Why, thanks, boss," you wink, with a grin to Toriel, who's also laughing silently. _She likes a bad joke, huh. Wonder if she likes puns._

Toriel struggles to reign in her laughter, and then says, "Is there anything you wish to ask, Alex?"

"Um, yes, actually, where's, uh," You gesture your surroundings, "where's the song coming from?"

"Oh, you can hear it as well?" Frisk seems a bit surprised. Toriel is not, and answers, "That, my child, is my Soul melody."

"Soul melody?" You knew very little of Souls, the very culmination of one's being. "And not everyone can hear it?"

"All monsters can, but including you and Frisk, only two humans. I'm sure Dr. Alphys can explain in better detail."

"Dr. Alphys is the Royal Scientist, isn't she?"

"Well," Frisk explains, "was, technically. Almost all formal positions and titles have been discontinued, except that of the King and Queen."

"As a show of willingness for integration, no doubt? Wise move, Ms. Toriel."

"Why thank you, Alex." She doesn't ask how you knew. She probably has gathered how. Frisk does, however. "How did you know it was her?"

"Simple. Such a decision can obviously made by only the Royalty, and I've gathered that the Queen is politically astute, from the way she has handled the questions from the media thus far. Hence, my guess."

"So your claims of being sharp are well-founded."

"All my claims are." You give a confident grin, and shift to the next question, "When can I start meeting the other monsters?"

"Anytime you wish. Although," Toriel looks at the clock, it's three in the afternoon. You came in at two. "Two of them will be arriving in a few minutes. You don't mind waiting?"

"Oh no, not at all. I'll certainly wait. I have to meet them at some point. Who's coming?"

Toriel stands up and says, "Frisk shall tell you, my child. As it is, I have some work left to do." She leaves for the kitchen again. _To cook, for the visitors? She is quite the mother figure. Maybe she'll be one you never had..._ You cut off that train of thought easily. Now's not the time.

"Seeing as it's nearly time for his cooking lesson, Papyrus will be coming, with Sans in tow. Probably literally, knowing him." They giggle at the image.

"Is it just a coincidence, or are they named after fonts?"

"They are. They're brothers, and skeletons."

"Skeletons?"

"The only ones, in fact. Papyrus is tall, loud, and," they pause, "Extravagant, I think? You'll know when he gets here."

"And the other?"

"Sans, who is actually the elder one, is short, lazy, and a bit of comic character."

"Comic Sans, then?" 

"I think that's actually his real name."

"Serious?"

"Yep. Oh, speak of the devils."

A flashy, red sportscar comes round the bend. Two Monsters are in the car. The tall one is in the driver's seat. He seems to drive casually and with clinical precision at the same time. The short one in a blue hoodie seems to be sleeping. The car pulls up near your bike, and the Monsters get out. Both have wide smiles on their faces. Both are white. Not skin tone white. Bone white.

_Papyrus and Sans._

Papyrus strides confidently, and there's something in the way he walks that screams military training. While Sans seems to have perfected laziness into an art form. He seems to notice someone looking, and looks to the window, straight at you. You lock eyes. Well. Eyes and eye-sockets. Despite his slouching posture, his eyes told a different story. The lights in his eyes seemed to... judge you, for lack of a better word. You smile, giving him a tentative wave. His smile _(is it permanent?)_ seems to stiffen subtly. _A guy with a mask, eh? I'm no stranger to masks myself._

The doorbell rings, and even that seems energetic. As soon as Frisk opens the door, the melody changes to a bombastic tune. Now you get what Frisk meant. "NYEEH! HELLO, HUMAN FRISK! I TRUST YOU HAVE BEEN WELL IN MY ABSENCE OF 18 HOURS?" _Wow, he IS loud._

Papyrus seemed to have merged with Frisk and become one entity. "Yesh Paphyrush, I'm phine." On closer inspection, they were actually enclosed in a bear hug. You chuckle softly. Now that's a ball of positivity.

He lets go of them, and his eyes fall to you. In his eye sockets, you notice his eyelights are much smaller, nearly invisible from a distance, but they hold more warmth than the Sun itself. He walks over to you, posture straighter, pulling himself up more. You smile as you realize what he's doing. _He's trying to make a good impression._ He grabs your hand and shakes it vigorously.

"GREETINGS, HUMAN! I AM THE GREAT PAPYRUS, ROYAL GUARDSMAN, AND MASTER CHEF EXTRORDINAIRE, UNDER THE TUTELAGE OF HER HIGHNESS, QUEEN TORIEL! NICE TO MEET YOU!" 

You shake his hand back with equal vigour. His smile seems to become a pinch more appreciative.

"Alex. I've just been hired as the Vice-Ambassador. Nice to meet you too."

"NYEH HEH HEH! ALTHOUGH I WOULD LOVE TO STAY AND CHAT, HUMAN ALEX, I NEED TO ATTEND HER HIGHNESS' COOKING LESSON. SEE YOU LATER!"

With that he vanishes to the kitchen where similar greetings are heard.

"he's great isn't he?" The short skeleton appears in front of you _(from thin air?)_ and holds out a hand. He has a deep, tired voice. The melody, you pick up, has changed into a laid back tune.

"He certainly is energetic."

"heh. i'm sans. sans the skeleton."

"Alex." You take his hand. "Nice to me-" A farting noise echoes through the sitting room, and you take a second to realize what happened. You chuckle. "Really?"

"the old whoopee cushion in the hand trick. it's always funny." _A prankster. Probably gets along with Toriel nicely. Let's try this one._

"Well, good jokes do tickle my _funny bone._ "

His eyes light up at that. "heh. anyone who can appreciate a good pun is a friend in my book." But the suspicion does not leave. _Don't lie. Not to me._

This guy seems like someone who could probably dodge questions like a pro. You decide to be direct. You slip your hands into your pockets. "And you don't trust friends?"

He seems taken aback, but it's very subtle. He closes his eyes. _He has an excellent poker face._ "heh. direct, are we? no use avoiding the subject then."

He looks at you again. You feel something crawl on your back. You stifle the feeling.

"i don't just trust anybody. there's nothing you can do to prove yourself trustworthy, except being yourself. as for whether or not you are worthy, i'll be the judge of that. and if you hurt anybody, especially papyrus,"

Time seems to freeze, and Sans' eye sockets go black. Two dragon like skulls materialize behind him. _A show of power. They sure are intimidating._

" y o u ' r e g o n n a h a v e a b a d t i m e . "

You don't let your expression slip, but honestly, you are terrified. A bit. _This one's going to be tough._

You notice the clock. It isn't moving. Time has indeed been frozen.

_WHAT THE FUCK._

Time resumes. Sans affects his usual expression. "welp. guess i'll be seeing you around."

And he vanishes. Only this time the shorter brother does it literally. _Teleportation? That guy's full of surprises._

But what the fuck. _Did he actually freeze time?_

"He threatened you, didn't he?" Frisk comes to your side. You had been expecting them to.

"And stopped time, it seems."

They sigh.

You ask, "He does that often?"

"Not exactly. Just humans who try to get close."

"How many?"

"We've had a few so far."

"That's problematic."

"It is."

"Yeah, damn smiley trash bag doesn't know to take a hint." You smile. _Time for the next act._

"I don't agree, Flowey. He may be subtle as a road roller in the sky, but he sure can see and acknowledge hints."

Flowey, to his credit, just squints. "Does nothing phase you? I saw you after the time stop. You didn't seem the least affected."

"I just have a really good poker face, I guess."

 _"Just like me." That mystery voice again._ It seems to come from your left. You turn to face it.

And for the second time today, you are genuinely taken aback.

You stare.

Crimson eyes stare back.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey. This is my first fic, so do leave a comment on how I can improve, and whether you like it or not. English isn't my first language, so I've done the best I can. 
> 
> I decided the main pairing after I saw the disappointing lack of Chara/Reader fics. And after I had been hit with a surprising slew of partially creative ideas.
> 
> Also, non-medically neuroatypical is probably not a real thing, but I needed something to describe it. That part is actually my own condition as well, and I thought it might be interesting to include it.
> 
> I'm sure I don't have to tell you, but just in case, the first melody is Home, second is Your Best Friend, third is Main Menu but on acoustic Guitar, fourth is NYEH HEH HEH, and fifth is sans.  
> I'll probably update next week, but I'll be editing this every now and then. Catch you later!


	2. More new faces

The owner of those red eyes seems to find your direct stare unexpected.

 _"Can you see me?"_ They ask, their voice calm and collected, even in their surprise. 

You gather your wits and ask back, "Am I not supposed to?"

To the contrary, the human and the Golden Flower by your side vocalize their disbelief rather loudly.

"Wha-how-Y-You can actually see her?!"

"The hell?! That’s supposed to be impossible!"

You pay them no heed, for the subject in front of you has all your attention. You can’t seem to tear your eyes away as you take in the rest of their features.

 _They’re floating. They’re probably a ghost. That probably explains the surprise. They’re...a woman, of my age, I would say. Green sweater, single yellow stripe. Brown shorts. Nice legs._ Wait where the fuck did that come from-

_"Well, it seems an introduction is in order."_

You clear your head. _Focus._

You notice their smile, permanent, rigid, frozen. 

_Unnerving._

_"Greetings. I am Chara. The demon that comes when you call its name."_

You notice they are translucent; the chair beyond is visible through them. _So they ARE a Ghost. And what’s with the demon adjective?_

"Alex. Alex Rider." You reach out a hand. _Shit, didn’t I JUST say it? They’re a ghost! You idiot! Well, just wing it now._

A single eyebrow goes up. _"I can’t do that, you know,"_

“It’s the thought that counts.” You grin. _Nice save. Probably won’t be enough though._

They reach out with their own and wrap their hand slowly, deliberately around yours, all the while looking you straight in the eye.

Your hand feels like you plunged it into the freezer.

“Hm. Cold.” You give an impish smile. You hear a loud groan. Flowey.

“Why are you acting like it’s completely normal, you idiot?” _He seems to like that phrase a lot._

“Is it not?”

“No, dammit. They’re dead.”

One blink. Two blinks.

“I can see that. I was about to ask you know.” You gesture to the sofa, and everyone follows. “And where normalcy is concerned, I’ve seen glamorous robots, talking flowers and living skeletons who possess floating dragon skulls, all who lived under the ground for a millennium. My standard for normalcy has long since sunk below sea level.”

You head to the sofa as you speak and sit at the same spot you sat earlier. Flowey is placed beside your boss, who is currently rubbing their temple. Chara follows at their shoulder level, legs folded in a relaxed way under her. The three of you wait for them to say something. 

You take this time to observe Flowey. While he is short, relative to a flower he is by no means small. He could reach your knees if he tried. He’s got the perfect ratios to be a children’s mascot, but judging by his earlier comments, you reject the idea. Papyrus would be perfect though-

“I mean, whoa. That was a surprise.”

You’re used to being pulled out of your thoughts, so you chuckle softly, “That would be an understatement, boss. And is she a secret?”

“Well, mainly because no one other than me, Flowey, and now you, can see her.”

You turn to Chara. She has been looking at you this whole time, you realize. She blushes when she catches your eye. _She has a permanent blush? That’s really cute._ You didn’t bother silencing that. The thoughts weren’t going to leave your head anyway.

“So, Chara, Flowey, tell me about yourselves.”

 _“Why?”_ ”Why?”

“So I may get to know you better?”

_“Hmm. I’ll start, then. What do you wish to know? Ask away. I shall decide whether or not to answer.”_

“How do you know Frisk?”

_“They woke me up from death when they fell down the hole.”_

“The hole above the …” You close your eyes, trying to remember that name. “Ruins? Where Toriel lived?”

_“The very same.”_

“How would that wake you?”

_“I was buried there. Frisk and I have the same Major Soul Trait. Determination. Due to aligning circumstances, that woke me up.”_

“I see. So you fell much before Frisk did?” 

They nod. _“50 years ago, in fact.”_

“Hmm. 50 years ago, wait a minute...”

_“Took you this long.”_

“You’re the first fallen human.”

_“That is correct.”_

“Brother of Prince Asriel Dreemurr. But you identify as, and look like, a she?”

_“It’s why I climbed Mt. Ebott.”_

“Ah. I see. My apologies.”

For a split second, the profound sadness on Flowey’s face caught your eye. _Huh. He, of all people? There’s something else at work here._ Frisk seemed to know this beforehand. They listened passively.

_“Accepted. As for my appearance, I can change my form at will to an extent.”_

“Hmm.” You chew on that for a moment.

_“You didn’t ask how I died.”_

“I didn’t want to impose. You don’t have to if you don't want to.”

_“You sound like a therapist.”_

The plastic smile becomes real for a second. _Now, that’s a beautiful smile. ...shit, cool your heels, Alex. She’s dead._ You smile back.

“I get that occasionally.”

_“But I don’t mind. I’ve accepted those sins a while back.”_

The way she said “those sins”... _There are some she hasn’t._

And then she continues into how she fell, how Asriel took her all the way to New Home, how they grew as siblings, how they played pretend games.

How they accidentally poisoned Asgore.

How she decided to sacrifice her life for Asriel to absorb her soul.

How Asriel held back against both the humans’ as well as Chara’s hate.

How they stumbled back into the King’s garden.

How they dusted away.

_She doesn’t smile._

You didn’t miss Flowey’s reactions, either. He smiles in nostalgia, then droops slightly in sadness, with a hint of resentment. _Nostalgia? Resentment? You don’t mean…_

It’s absurd, but it could mean one thing. _Flowey knew Chara before her death._

You glance at the clock. Three thirty. _Time to pick up Stella from school._

Just as you’re about to break the silence, the job is done for you by the Great Papyrus.

“NYEH! HUMAN ALEX! I DO BELIEVE MY GREAT FRIENDS HUMAN FRISK AND FLOWEY HAVE KEPT YOU OCCUPIED ENOUGH IN MY ABSENCE? ALTHOUGH NOTHING CAN MEASURE UPTO THE GREATNESS THAT IS MYSELF! NYEH HEH HEH!”

“Well, we haven’t really talked enough to set a standard, have we, Paps?”

“GASP, A NICKNAME! DOES THIS MEAN WE ARE FRIENDS WHOSE BOND RUNS DEEP AS THE SOUL?? AS FOR YOUR QUESTION, ALEX, MUCH AS I REGRET NOT TALKING TO YOU BEFORE, THE QUEEN MUST NOT BE KEPT WAITING, FOR SHE IS A QUEEN! AND THEREFORE! WORTHY OF THE HIGHEST ESTEEM AND RESPECT!”

_Seriously. How does he pull off this bombastic personality perfectly?_

“I agree. Though,” You get up, “you’ll have to excuse me right now. I have to pick up my daughter from school. Will you be staying? I’ll be back in ten.”

“I WOULD BE DELIGHTED TO MEET YOUR CHILD, MY FRIEND! I TOO, HAVE TO RUN AN ERRAND FOR HER MAJESTY, SO I HAVE TO LEAVE NOW AS WELL, BUT SANS WILL BE HERE!”

“Well, boss? I’ll be back in 10.”

“Oh, sure!”

Chara doesn’t say anything, while Flowey gives a silent...leafs-up?

On the way out, you place a hand where Chara’s shoulder was visible. She starts and turns away, but you think you see red on her neck. You smirk. _B_ _ut wait, how does she even blush when she doesn’t have blood? ...Meh. A mystery for later._

As you step out of the door and on the gravel with the tall skeleton, he asks, “DO YOU WISH FOR, AS THE HUMANS SAY, A LIFT, HUMAN ALEX?”

You chuckle and shake your head, “Nah, Paps, I came on my bike over there.” _God, he’s so adorably childish._

“ALRIGHT THEN. TILL WE MEET AGAIN IN 15 MINUTES, GOODBYE MY FRIEND!”

“Bye, Paps.” You click your helmet on and drive to the school. 

_I wonder what Stella will say about all this._

You reach the school gates. You find that the children have started pouring out of the school building. You park at your usual spot, and wait. A gaggle of moms _(There aren’t any other words for them)_ are ogling you by the time your guardian angel deigns to visit you.

“Hey Dad, how was the interview? Did you get it?”

You don’t take notice and pretend to be asleep.

“Dad.”

“...”

“Day-dee.”

You ‘fail’ to hide a smile.

“FATHER!”

You lose your composure and bark out a laugh, looking up. Stella stands in front, arms akimbo and a pout, displeased at your willful ignorance. A hairband is scrunched up in her hand while her chest length blonde hair is free. 

“You got into a fight again, Lady Athena, O Goddess of War?”

“Daddy!” Her hand flies to cover her mouth in an exaggerated display of shock, “How could you so wildly accuse your own daughter of such a heinous crime?!”

“Yeah, yeah, stop flexing your drama club in my face, you little monkey.”

The little monkey giggles as she climbs on, making the gaggle of moms “AWW’ at the exchange. _Yare yare..._ You start your bike and drive off in the direction of the Dreemurr residence.

“So, Dad, how was the interview?”

“Pretty good. I got the job.”

“Oh yeah! I knew you could do it Daddy!”

“If I remember right, you offered to buy me Ice-cream today, seeing as you didn’t want to see me cry, because I would certainly not get the job.”

“Oh, shush. I was just motivating you to prove me wrong.”

“Mhmm. So no treat?”

“Not if you’re not buying. I don’t have money on me.”

“Where’s the 20 I gave you this morning?”

“I got hungry, so I spent it on some fries in the cafeteria.”

“20 bucks for some fries?!”

“For me and friends! Honestly Dad...” She pauses, seemingly realizing something. 

“Dad, where are we going?”

“Dreemurr residence.”

“We are going to meet the King and Queen?!” 

“I don’t know about the King, But the Queen, yeah. You’ll love her.”

“Is she soft?!”

“Nah. She’s made of stone.”

“Not funny, Dad.”

“Well, why don’t you find out yourself?” You finish, stopping near the entrance.

“It’s this close to the School?”

“Yeah.”

She rushes off to the door, and rings the doorbell. Hard.

“don’t kill the doorbell, Paps. it’ll be a _dead-ringer,_ hehe-”

Sans is taken aback with the presence of a 10 year old nearly delivering him an uppercut with her head. He dodges, and doesn’t notice you. You decide to watch it play out, grin, and don’t move.

Stella, on the other hand, is vibrating like a bunch of those cat-dog monsters you saw in a report on TV. _Temmies,_ your brain supplies _._

“uh, who-”

“Whoaaa, how did you talk without opening your mouth? Are you a ventriloquist? Do you have vocal chords? What Would Happen If You Tried To Talk In Water? Doyouhavelungs?Don’tyouneedtobreathe??”

“Well you obviously don’t need to, Eminem. Stop harassing the poor guy.”

You pull her back by her collar, and flash Sans a shit-eating grin. “Sorry about that, Sans. This is my daughter, Stella. She’s 10 but acts five.”

“Hey! I’m just excited to meet Monsters. I can’t help it if you have the emotional range of a teaspoon.”

“You know me so well, daughter.”

“uh, well, come on in, whatcha standing there for,” Sans manages. As you pass him, you affect a serious tone, ”Consider us even for that little trick you pulled on me a while ago.”

You hear a soft “oh” and some chuckles, then they stop abruptly. He’s gone again.

So has your daughter apparently. After a second you hear another “WOAHH” from the direction of the kitchen, which pretty much explains it. You hope Toriel will be able to handle her, seeing as you have a blue fish lady with an eye patch and a biker's jacket stomping towards you, aggressively pointy teeth bared in an aggressive grin with an aggressive expression. 

_Undyne. Ex-Captain of the Royal Guard. Age unknown. Female, homosexual. Supposedly in a relationship with Dr. Alphys, Ex-Royal Scientist. Aggression personified, an Alpha in every sense. Do not bow to her. Establish your codominance, else it might become a pickle in difficult situations._

“Sup, punk! You the vice ambassador Frisk was talking about?”

She swings her _(_ _right)_ arm to clap your shoulder. _Perfect opportunity._

You take a step back, and grab her hand with your own. You give it a shake for good measure.

“Yeah, I’m Alex Rider. I believe you’re Undyne, if i’m not mistaken?”

Her eyes flash in appreciation. “Damn right, there’s only one of me!”

_There’s that taken care of._

“By the way, what was that whirlwind that came in before you?”

“My daughter.”

There is another loud “WOAH”, which could mean anything. But eh, you trust Toriel. You notice Chara peeking through the doorway and smiling. It’s fine then. You notice the latest melody. _Hard. Energetic. Shifting into soft. But still energetic. Very much Undyne._

Undyne squints “You have a daughter?”

“Mhmm.”

“How old are you?”

“23. You?”

“24. And your daughter?”

“10.” You’re chuckling now. Her eyebrows shoot up. _In curiosity._ _At least she is not judgmental._

“Humans can have kids at 13?!” This question was directed at a very red and very uncomfortable Frisk.

“Ah? Um, no, not legally, I’m, uh, not sure about, um, biologically,” they stammer.

“She’s adopted.” “Ah.”

“DAAAD!” _Brace for impact._

With a grace that comes with experience, you catch her in mid air, where she latches to your torso like a koala.

“DADADADAD, Ms. Toriel can do Magiiic! Do you think she can teach me??”

“I’m pretty sure so can all monsters, sweetie. We’ll see about learning Magic later. I hope she hasn’t been bothering you, Toriel. She is a handful most of the time.”

“Oh, it’s no bother at all! She’s a delight to be around. Being the old goat that I am, it has been a while since I have found such youth in my company. Tee hee.”

“Delight she is. Ungh, Stella stop you’re strangling me”

“Sorry!” _Yeah, right, you're not the least bit sorry, are you._ You smile fondly. She runs off only to find Flowey on the window sill, sunbathing. 

“Stella, don’t-”

“Heya, uh, are you alive?”

“Oh? Howdy! I’m Flowey, Flowey the Flower! You must be Stella!”

_Woah, that’s what I call a 180. That’s a nice thought. Say it out loud._

“Woah, that’s what I call a 180.” You say, causing a few chuckles. Fortunately for you, they’re out of earshot. It certainly seems to be an interesting conversation, what with your little girl sitting on the sill and bombarding him with questions.

“Anyway, Undyne, I was planning to ask a few questions, shall we sit?”

“Yeah, sure! I have some myself!”

You deliberately take a different spot this time. Out of the corner of your eye, you notice Chara floating above Frisk, arms crossed. The pair reminded you of something in that anime Stella watches. What was it called? Jojo? You yet had to start watching it.

“Do I go first?” You ask.

“Sure.”

“Papyrus introduced himself as a Royal Guardsman, but I was told earlier the Guard was disbanded. What’s the deal with that?”

She raised a single eyebrow. You get the message easily. _(What kind of question is that?)_

You grin wryly, “I’m starting off easy.”

“Oh.” she says simply, and begins, “In the Underground, Paps was a sentry, along with Sans, who was in it for the money. He was my protégé, and it was his greatest wish to become a Royal Guardsman, since they are pretty famous and are looked up to by the citizens. When we told him the Royal Guard wouldn’t be needed anymore, he was...dejected? It was his Ultimate goal, with a capital U and all, so when it wasn’t there anymore, we were worried how he would take it. When you’ve known Papyrus for as long the King and I have, you feel like you HAVE to protect him, you know? So me, the Queen and Asgore decided to make him the only Royal Guardsman on the Surface, which would double as presenting a favorable picture of Monsters to Humans.”

“Hmm. That’s pretty sweet.”

“Now I’ll go. How long will it take to get us human jobs?”

“What’s the hurry?”

“Eh, just asking.” _She is hiding something. But it doesn’t seem serious. Hmm. Take a guess._

“You want to join the army?”

“Eh? How did you-” There’s a screech of tires and the familiar loud voice of Papyrus, profusely apologizing to “Your Majesty” and “the good Doctor Alphys”. There wasn’t a crash, so you suppose nothing major has happened. There is a deep rumble interrupting Papyrus’ apology, which you recognize as the King’s baritone, and a new, squeaky voice, which you suppose is the Doctor’s. 

As you get up to greet them, you notice Flowey and Stella have finished with their conversation. Stella runs towards you with a frown, and it seems like her excitement has worn off for a bit. 

“Who is it, Dad?”

“The King, the Royal Scientist and the Royal Guardsman.”

You notice Sans giving a grin at your specific mention of his brother. _A genuine one. He really loves his brother, huh._

The King in the Mountain steps in first, immediately catching your eye and walking your way with a warm smile. _King Asgore Dreemurr, dubbed King in the Mountain, the Bergentrückung, by the media. Age 1000+, the public figure, the "face and heart of the operation". A true and beloved leader. Toriel's perfect complement._

_Melody change: Slow, regal. Traces of Toriel's theme? That's so sweet._

He extends a hand. “Howdy, Mr. Rider! I was informed of your wish to assist us as our Vice Ambassador, and I hear Tori has approved, which leaves no room for argument. Allow me to express my happiness on the behalf of my people. We appreciate your help very much! And as they say, welcome to the family! Hohoho!”

“Pleasure’s all mine, Your Highness,” you grin and shake his hand, "and call me Alex, please."

Your hands are by no means small, but they seem so in comparison to Asgore’s hand. _The pads are rough. Calluses. No stranger to physical work. He is a king who will not hesitate to help his people in any way._

“Asgore is fine, my friend. Oh, and this is my friend, Dr. Alphys. Our Royal Scientist. Or rather, Ex-Royal Scientist, though I must admit, it’s only on paper!”

Your eyes fall on the doctor, and your mind rushes to provide the info. _Dr. Alphys, Ex-Royal Scientist, age unknown. Female, bisexual(?) Nervous at first glance. Famously played an instrumental role in Mettaton's rise to Stardom._

_Wait, that’s it? That won’t do._

_Melody change: Awkward describes this one, but it does bloom into a more complex theme._

“H-h-heya! A-Alex, right?” _Hmm, should I…? Eh, let’s try it._

“Yes, it's a pleasure to meet you, Doctor.” You flash a ‘charming’ grin, one corner of your mouth higher than the other.

“U-u-u-um,” _Ah-hah._ “A-A-A-Alphys is f-f-fine! Eheheheheheh.” She looks away, very red. _As expected. Add 'very easily flustered' to her info._ You give Undyne an amused smile. She smirks wryly and shakes her head. You see Asgore and Stella finishing a conversation, so you address him.

“Anyway, Sir, we were about to discuss citizenship and the problems regarding that.”

“Of course. Please, Have a seat.”

“I asked him how long it will take for us to land a job.” says Undyne.

“Hmm. How long will it take?”

“Ideally, 3 weeks.” You launch into your explanation. “You’ll need to have documentation, and for that, we need to make you citizens. Technically, they have no grounds to deny you citizenship. You guys have been Underground for a millennium or so, hence that would make most of you natural-born, simply undocumented, citizens. For those who’ve lived longer, a millennium is a hundred or more times the time required for naturalization.”

“However, before this they will be asking for extensive details. This is where we need to be careful. We need to sort out which are necessary and which aren’t, and then back up this differentiation with our arguments. For that you’ll have to trust me with everything. And I mean, everything. I’m stressing this point very much here. Deeds of questionable character, accidents, murders, everything. In detail. I won’t judge you for anything. But if you keep something from me, and somebody else finds out,” _Pause for effect._ You look everyone hard in the eye. Even Frisk for good measure. “It’s going to be a very big scandal. And what with the already precarious situation, I suppose it won’t be far-fetched at all to say,"

You take a breath.

"You may have to kiss your hard earned Surface goodbye. Again.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Surprise!  
> It's difficult to live up to expectations, lmao. I know it was a bit abrupt at the end, but I couldn't do it any other way. So maybe I'll improve it later on!  
> Have at you! Do leave a comment if you like it!


	3. Confessions and Surprises

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you're here, I'm pretty sure you've heard the UnderTale plenty of times. I'm not going to repeat it. I'll be focusing on the implications.  
> Enjoy!

That was something.

“So, none of the children died by monster hands?”

“Not one.” sighs Asgore.

Anyone can see that the sigh is one of pure relief. You look over at the clock. It’s nearly six; two hours of straight up storytelling. Stella had passed out on Toriel’s lap for a while now.

“That’s good. Well, not good per say, but the best I hoped for under the circumstances.” _Gr_ _unt, get up, walk over to the window, hands in the pockets_. Even though it began as a confession, the session encompassed the previous forty-eight years of the Underground. Everything from Toriel’s leaving, Undyne’s promotion to captain, Alphys’ experiments and mistakes, the fallen humans, Frisk journeying the Underground, nearly battling the King and Toriel’s timely interruption. Right now, everyone was spread out in the sitting room. Toriel and Asgore on the opposite ends of the sofa, Flowey on the window sill looking outside, Undyne on the breakfast bar, Sans on a stool next to her.

“I’m thinking out loud here. Asgore did declare war, but seeing as he never really acted upon it, they can’t fault him for that alone. Sure, due to his being a monarch, and the fact that Boss was frequently attacked on the basis of his declaration, his actions might be taken more seriously. So, when we tell them, it could go either way, really. It might be taken badly, or he might be forgiven easily. Politicians are fickle like that. So, worst case scenario, the best compromise would be to have Asgore abdicate in favour of Toriel continuing as Queen. Seeing as it’s both of you who rule at the moment, it won’t be having much practical effect. But we may have to play up the, uh, ‘the estranged wife’ act a bit more, your Highness.”

“I suppose that would indeed be a fair compromise, should such a situation arise,” agrees Toriel. Her mood changed dramatically when she found out none of ‘her children’ were actually killed, and the Purple Soul was cared for by Gerson. But she’s still bitter about the declaration itself. _Nothing can be done about that. They have to resolve it on their own. Now then…_

“Alphys.”

“Y-yes?” She replies from the armchair. Her melody begins again, but it’s a bit more sombre.

“About the amalgamates…” you bite your lip. “How sentient are they, at the moment?”

“T-t-they can’t r-read or write, if m-making them s-s-sign t-their c-c-consent is what you’re g-g-going for.” _She’s not the Royal Scientist for nothing._

“How about verbal agreement?”

“Their speech isn’t exactly what you’d call...intelligible.” Frisk puts in.

“Damn.”

“B-but I h-have c-c-consent forms f-from their f-families!”

“I guess that’ll have to do. There could be complications, hmm. How many Amalgamates did you say there are?”

“F-five or so. W-well, t-technically.”

“Alright. And I wanted to know more about that, um,” you try to recall, “project that made Flowey, The Vessel project, was it?”

“Y-yeah.”

“Was that before or after the amalgamates?”

“D-during. It was p-part of the same e-e-experiment. T-to salvage t-t-the Souls of t-t-those F-fallen D-d-down and store t-them somewhere.”

“Why Golden Flower? Why not the other one, what was it called, the Echo Flower?”

“G-golden F-f-flowers were the p-perfect m-mix of physicality and m-m-magic. Physicality, d-d-due to t-their o-o-origin from the surface. M-m-magic, from b-being in the U-underground and in the K-king’s extensive c-c-care.”

“Hmm. And Echo flowers are all Magic?”

“Y-yeah.”

“I suppose the Physicality comes in to contain the Determination?” Determination, or DT, was what made the Amalgamates all molten. It was the Monster's greatest Achilles Heel. Can't live with too much, can't live without it. 

“T-that’s right.”

“Why did the other experiments fail, then?”

“I-I have n-no idea. Flowey r-r-refuses to l-let me t-test him.”

“And he doesn’t have a soul?”

“N-no, h-he doesn’t. He s-said that h-himself.”

“Hmm.” Something suddenly clicked. The melody stops.

_Flowey knows Chara. Flowey is used to a position of power. Flowey deflects questions aimed towards him. Flowey says Howdy! And Golly! Like Asgore does. Including the intonation. Flowey shows resentment to Chara mentioning anything about the way she died. Flowey was born from the garden Prince Asriel dusted away in. Flowey identifies as a he, even though there is no way for him to know or realise this, being a flower. Flowey called himself the Prince of this world’s future. Monster dust contains the essence of a Monster, but not the Soul. Flowey is Soulless. Flowey is…_

_…_

_...Prince Asriel reborn?_

_No way._

_But the reasoning is sound._

_He is dead!_

_So is Chara!_

_..._

_Hmm._

_No harm in trying, right?_

“Flowey?”

He grunts.

“Do you know anything about the proje-”

“I don’t know anything about it.” _A second too fast._ “I just woke up in the Garden, and left the place to investigate.” _Could’ve fooled me._

“So, how did you know who you were?”

“What do you mean?”

“How did you realize you were Flowey, and not somebody else? You know, the ‘who am I’ moment? What if you weren't Flowey?” _The bait is set._

“Who else do you think I'm supposed to be? A dead prince walking?” _Hook, line and sinker. That was easier than I thought._

“Bingo.”

There’s confusion on his face for a moment, then Flowey _blanches._ The flower’s face showed more terror than you had ever seen in anybody. But it is quickly masked by anger.

“What the hell do you mean, bingo?”

“I never said anything about a dead prince, Asriel.”

“I meant it as a saying, you idiot!”

“I don’t hear a denial, _Asriel_.”

“What? Wait, no, I’m not him! He's different! I'm not that snivel-faced sobbing CRY BABY who cries at the drop of a hat! He’s the one who cries _“Mommy, Daddy, help!”_ even when he KNOWS nobody will come. Nobody ever does! Nobody! I-”

The flower freezes mid-rant as he realizes what he’s done. _That voice, I’m pretty sure that was Asriel’s voice._

Everyone in the room fixes him in their stares. Except the two humans and a lizard. Frisk’s look is soft, and Chara’s eyes just say, “About time.” Alphys’ say “I knew it!” but there’s a hint of “I didn’t think it would actually be true!” 

Undyne’s eyes reflect shock and confusion, Sans has no eyes to speak of, they’ve gone black, Papyrus’ eyes show surprise and sympathy.

You’re hesitant to look at the royals.

The fish is the first to break the silence, “No fucking way.”

“No! I am not him! He’s different! He’s here, but he’s not- I’m not- Urrgh- YOU!”

You never thought you could feel killing intent. Yet here you are. You get goosebumps all over your body. A split second later, a circle of small, white, oval, rotating things surrounds you. _Bullets,_ your brain reminds you. _Dodge._ You crouch, ready to roll away, when fire suddenly blocks the approaching bullets.

You glance over to Toriel, but it’s Asgore who reacted first, eyes showing sadness, a bit of confusion, and a depth you don’t get.

“Oi, I’m not him! I’m telling you I’m not-”

“Flowey.” Asgore interrupts, gently. You hope he knows what to do, for you certainly don’t. _He’s WAY more volatile about the situation than I thought._ “Much as I’m shocked by the implications, I do understand why you don’t want to be called by his name. And you still are-”

“Oh, shut up! You don’t know anything! You never know anything! You’re always too late! An entire population can die behind your back and you’ll. Know. NOTHING!” Frisk and Chara flinch. Hard.

_That was not a metaphor._

_The fuck is that supposed to mean?_

_…Yeah, that was stupid. But what did he mean? Why did they flinch?_

Asgore kneels in front of window sill, so he and Flowey are at eye level. “I may not know everything, Flowey. But, being as old as I am, I sure do understand a lot of things. You may or may not have Asriel inside you, but you are, regardless, Flowey to all of us. You don’t have to worry about Flowey fading into the background. It is understandable why you are how you are. And we shall not force you to change.”

“I-I won’t fade! I refuse! I’ll, I’ll-”

“Shh, don’t worry, young one, calm down, shh,” he soothes the flower, who now looks very small and vulnerable. A few seconds of silence pass. Belatedly, you realize he has fallen asleep, no doubt due to the warm, golden glow being emitted by the king’s hand. Asgore steps back and sighs deeply.

“I’m sorry,” you begin, “for dropping it like that, but I thought a delay wouldn’t benefit anybody, and I didn’t know Boss and-” you nearly say Chara, and then you save, “Alphys knew that. So, uhm, sorry.”

“It’s fine, you guys had to know sometime or the other. He threatened me not to spill the beans. He said he couldn’t let you see him like this.”

“I-I d-didn’t k-know per s-say, b-but I g-g-guessed. I w-was j-just too s-s-scared to ask h-him, for s-some reason.”

No one says anything for a while. Toriel looks down on the floor in front of her, lost in thought. Sans is the same.

“Oi punk, you a mind reader or something?”

“No,” you sigh, and explain your reasoning. Leaving out the bits that included the other ghost in the room. Without the fact that there was another dead person you could see, though, your argument sounded weak.

“And you thought he was the Prince using just that?”

“It Was Worth A Shot Though, Wasn’t It, Undyne?” says Papyrus quietly. Well, quietly for him.

“Dad can be frighteningly clever like that sometimes,” Stella pipes up.

“Eh? How long have you been awake?” You didn’t notice her stirring. Well, you can’t exactly be blamed for that.

“Since Flowey started shouting. Is he really the dead Prince?”

“Well, the Prince is in there somewhere. But it’s Flowey for now.”

“Huh.” She seems to ponder over something. “Are they two separate people?”

“So he insists. Where are you going with this?”

“Do you think, we can, um, you know, separate them?”

Silence falls again, this time of more of a quiet surprise. Your eyes go wide. _Now why didn’t I even consider it?_

“We’ll see sweetie. We would have to build Asriel a new body, you know. It won’t be easy, if it’s possible at all. Is it?” You ask Alphys, who’s deep in thought. “Probably. Let’s see, the essence, the determination, and the source of life, the piece of the parents…” she continues to mumble under her breath. You’re a bit surprised at the lack of stutter, but she’s looking passionate about it.

“And if it is,” you breathe, looking at nothing at particular for everyone else, but actually straight at Chara. She starts as she realises what you're thinking.

_“You can’t be serious.”_

You smile softly.

“You know Dad, when I talked to Flowey, he mumbled something about how I sounded like Asriel. Why was that?”

After things had settled down, Frisk explained who exactly broke the barrier, and how. You left the house soon after.

“That’s because just like you, Asriel was very excitable, and often ran around the first fallen human asking hundreds of questions,” You dragged her to the bed, going off the royals’ description of him, “And generally on an all-time sugar high. _Just_ like you, I'd say.”

“I am not sugar high!”

“Yeah, right.”

“I am NOT!”

“Go to sleep, _ma fille._ ”

“Noooo-”

“If you don’t, I won’t take you to the Underground tomorrow.”

“…”

“Heh.”

“You’re mean.”

“Yeah, ‘cause I _mean_ it. Night-night.”

You hear a groan and a half-hearted “Night-night” from under the sheets as you shut the door. You sigh as you walk over to your own room and bed. _That was an eventful first day. I’ve got my hands full with these guys. Tomorrow we need to visit the Underground as well. Oh well, it’ll come when it comes._

You quieten all thoughts as you sink into your bed. Pretty soon, you’re conked out.

~

_Crimson eyes stare hungrily into your own deep blue ones as she swoops in again, her lips searching and devouring yours, teeth biting your lower lip, her smooth hands snaking over your shoulder and torso, every action dripping wildly with want and need while your hands pull her in by her lower back, you feel her smile into your lips, you breathe in her scent, you revel in the sensation of her bare skin against yours, you bite down on her collarbone and she moans loud in pain and lust and-_

“Gah,” You wake up with a start. _Huh._ You rarely wake up like that anymore. As you recall what woke you up, you blush and face palm. “Jesus fucking Christ, I’m having wet dreams about a dead woman…Oh man, that sounds worse when I say it out loud…” You groan and lift your feet off the bed. _Another day._

You walk over to the kitchen after you brush and find your daughter already up and fresh, making toast laboriously.

“Well, this is a pleasant surprise. What gives?”

“You were shifting and groaning in your sleep, so I thought I’d make you breakfast.”

It took you a while to make out the connection. _Heh, make out, ugh, gOD DAMMIt, why am I acting like a horny teenager, fucking…_

“Because you thought I was having a bad dream?” You interrupt yourself.

“Mm.” She hums as she puts butter on the toast, puts them on a plate, and hands over one to you.

“Well, gee, thaaahhh,” you fail to stifle a yawn. “Thanks.”

“Didn’t you get any sleep?” She looks at you worriedly.

“I did, don’t worry, I’ll be fine after a coffee, you mother hen.”

“Hmph,” She pouts as she bites in.

There's silence for a while as she works her way through the bread.

“Hhay Dahdh,”

“Don’t talk with your mouth full, Stella.” You say automatically as you pour out a coffee from the blender.

“Mm. Dad, when we go to the Underground, can I ride in Papyrus’ car? It looks really nice.”

“Sure, if he’s okay with it. Eat up, we’ll leave a bit early.”

You see everyone outside the gates of Boss’ home. They’re probably waiting for you. You stop next to Papyrus’ car and cut the engine. “Hope we haven’t kept you too long. Someone here was worried about her hair.”

“Hey!”

Everyone chuckles, and Toriel smiles. “No, not at all. We were just stepping out. And your hair looks lovely, my child.”

“We’re right on time then I suppose. Hey Paps,”

“YES, HUMAN ALEX?”

“Stella wanted to sit in your car for the ride. Is it okay?”

“OF COURSE, IT’LL BE MY PLEASURE TO GIVE THE LITTLE HUMAN A RIDE! ALTHOUGH, HUMAN FRISK WOULD BE LEFT WITHOUT ONE, THEN.”

“You can come with me, Boss.”

“Alright. Let’s go, everyone.”

Everybody steps in their rides. Toriel, Sans, Stella and Papyrus in the skeleton’s car, Asgore and Alphys in Asgore’s blue pickup truck, Frisk and you on your bike and Undyne on a glorious, sexy Yamaha.

“Nice bike, Undyne.”

“Thanks! Alphys picked it for me. Said I’d look cool, and this was the best one for the job.”

“Well, she has good taste.”

“Yeah, she does! Say, punk, how much can you stretch that ride?”

“Are you asking me to race you?”

“Yep!”

“Well, my last name isn’t ‘Rider’ for nothing. It’s been a while since I’ve raced though. Will you be fine, Boss?”

“As long as you don’t crash.”

You chuckle. “I’m probably one of the very few riders who have never crashed. I have the famed devil’s luck, so we’ll be fine.”

“Dad has never lost a race!” adds Stella.

“We’ll see about that, kid! Ya ready, punk?” She asks as she puts on her helmet.

“Born ready,” You shoot back, buckling your own. Both of you kick start your engines.

“On three!” She shouts. “Three!”

She flies off, you following hot on her heels. You hear two yelps, one of which sounds like the non-corporeal human, and the other one belonging to the very much corporeal human, clutching on to you hard, pressing against you, scared for their life.

_Well, now I know their assigned gender._

_Ugh, shut up, that’s inappropriate._

_And I’m your brain._

You chuckle as you bend down and pick up the speed, gaining on the fish. What did they even expect, anyway? You just follow triumphant fish for now, putting up a show of trying hard, when you weren’t. You notice the road evening out.

_The end is near. Lay a counter intuitive trap. It’s your best bet. Take advantage of her lack of rear-view mirrors._

You move to the right and race your engine, taking care not move further, and then fall back a bit again. _That’ll convince her into thinking I’m faking this and will move to overtake her on the left. Any second now…_ You move to the left and back to the centre quickly, and race over to her right as soon as she moves left to ‘block’ you.

“Why, thank you, Undyne!” You shout as you twist the throttle all the way, leaving her in the dust.

“What the-! FUCK! NGAAAAHH!” She shouts and you grin. You sail past the end point. You slow quickly at the end and skid to stop, getting off to do a victory pump.

 _“Excellent trap there.”_ Oh no, that smile again… you seriously can’t be falling for that smile…

“Thanks.” You grin, breathing hard at the adrenaline rush. Frisk is still clutching the bike hard.

Undyne skids to a stop nearby. “Shit! I almost had that one in the bag!”

“You never ‘almost’ have a race, ‘Dyne.” You lean on your bike. “You either have it, or you don’t. The opponent can always make a comeback. That said, it wasn’t your fault,” You smirk, striking a pose, “I’m just that good.”

“Yeah, yeah, don’t rub it in my face, brat.”

You laugh out, adrenaline ebbing slowly. Chara laughs with you as well, an elegant, tinkling and rhythmic laugh, one you wouldn’t mind hearing again.

_…_

_Oh no._

Boss seems somewhat composed now, and jabs an accusing finger into your shoulder, “I’m never sitting behind you when you race, ever again.”

“Fair enough.”

The others arrive soon, Stella being the smug kid and Papyrus consoling his mentor when they realise what has happened.

As the gang moves up the trail to the Entrance of the Underground, you strike up a conversation with the scaly scientist. Frisk sidles in silently.

“Say, Alphys. What is a Soul melody?”

“E-eh? U-um, w-why do you ask?”

“I can hear them, and Toriel told me to ask you.” You say simply.

“O-oh. U-um, I-it’s a l-long e-explanation.”

“I have all the time in the world. Well, until we reach the entrance, so ten minutes.”

“W-well, Soul m-melodies are b-basically a musical representation of our magic.”

“Your magic? Not yourself?”

“M-more precisely, our magical signature, but since Monsters are made of just magic, it is a representation of us, yeah. If you know what you’re looking for, you can even know their past and present just with their Soul melody.”

“That’s fascinating.” _Even more fascinating, her stutter is gone completely. So, it disappears when she’s passionate about something._

“Yeah! There are multiple classes of Soul melody. Usually what we refer to as a Soul melody is scientifically known as a Soul Hum. There are other classes, like Battle Resonance, Interaction Melody, Courting Melody, Mourning Song, Environment Melody and The Balance Breaker. I think that’s all. These make up a Monster’s Soundtrack. It’s like a musical fingerprint.”

“Those many subtypes?”

“Yeah. You can tell what most of them mean by their name. Battle resonances play when you enter a FIGHT. Interaction melodies can play both when you FIGHT as a Friendly Battle as well as when you act as a team. Courting Melodies, well, play when you, court and marry your soulmate. It is a subtype of Interaction Melodies.”

“Soulmate?”

“It’s the traditional name for a spouse.”

“Hmm.”

“Souls Mourn when they lose someone very dear to them, usually in battle. A Soul’s Mourning is said to be the saddest song in the world and it motivates the Mourner to avenge their loved ones.”

“To avenge, huh. Do you know anyone who has Mourned?”

“The King did, when his father died in the War. His Soul Mourned and he went on a rampage.”

“Oh. What about, um, Environment Melodies?”

By now everyone had started to listen in.

“When the magic of an entire community works to keep life flowing, it creates Environment Melodies. It’s another subtype of Interaction Melody. It is usually restricted to a small area though. The largest area covered by an Environment Melody was Hotland.”

“Which, I assume, is hot?”

“Yeah, the King is bad at names.” Said King’s shoulders shake silently in laughter.

“Hmm. So, what was that last one?”

“The Balance Breaker Theme. A Balance Breaker is like the final powerup of the protagonist in anime, you know? It has the potential to break the Balance of the world, so it’s an extremely volatile state. There are only few Monsters who are said to be able to reach the Balance Breaker. Those who can attain the Balance Breaker at all are called Champion Class Monsters, while those who can activate it at will are called Ultimate Class Monsters.”

She’s going pretty fast, but you can still make sense of most of it. More importantly, you don’t want to interrupt her flow.

“Boss Monsters are a step below Champion and Ultimate Class in terms of power during their Balance Breakers, but Boss monsters are always at the same level of power, whereas the other two can only activate their power only for a while. So in the long run, Boss monsters always win. Hence, they are usually chosen to be kings. Balance Breaker Theme, of course, plays when you fight in the Balance Breaker state.”

“Balance Breaker, huh. Sounds very sexy.”

“Y-yeah, i-it does, d-doesn’t it?” _It’s back._

“Um, is Undyne a Champion Class?”

“S-she i-is. W-w-wait! H-how d-did you k-know that?!” 

“Just a very wild accusation, with no basis at all. Though I’m not exactly surprised she is.”

“O-oh. H-hey, we’re here!”

You find yourself in front of yawning cave. The top is at least ten times your height. _How did people not even notice this?!_ You smile and answer yourself, _Magic._

“Well, here’s to hoping we don’t face anything too wild.”

With that, you step into the infamous Underground.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The novice writer's greatest shield! Plot Armour!
> 
> Oh wow 80 hits, thanks guys, means a lot!


	4. The Doctor forgotten by Time

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh wow 130+ reads! You happy now, The_Wolves_Howl_At_Dawn? XP

“So, you took the children to be buried properly?”

You, Papyrus and Toriel walk back to the throne room after having a look into the basement, where the coffins of the children were kept. You aren’t sure how to take this. Most children who fell didn’t have families. But some did, and they will want the bodies back.

“Yes. It seemed…improper to let them stay the way they were, when their souls had finally moved on.”

“HER MAJESTY ENTRUSTED THIS VERY IMPORTANT AND DELICATE TASK TO ME! AND I CARRIED IT OUT PERFECTLY! FOR THAT IS ONLY TO BE EXPECTED OF THE GREAT PAPYRUS!”

“Of course. Speaking of, Paps, where did you take them?”

“WHY, THE PLACE HER MAJESTY REQUIRED I PLACE THEM, OF COURSE! THE FLOWERBED DEEP IN THE RUINS, NEXT TO THE BODY OF THE FIRST FALLEN, CHARA!”

“Did you bury them, or are they still in coffins?”

“The children are still in the coffins. Frisk thought of the same thing you are perhaps thinking of right now. The families of the children may want their bodies back, and we should be prepared for that outcome.”

“Oh. That’s good, then.” You chuckle inwardly. _You aren’t the only one who can anticipate, Alex._ “Next to Chara, huh. Hey, Toriel, may I ask a question? It’s a bit sensitive.”

“Please do, Alex.”

“Do the dead leave some sort of magic signatures?”

“Well, it is a rather complicated answer. In the usual sense, as in Melodies and Magic, they do not, which is rather obvious, and I am sure is not what you meant. But they do have a…lingering presence, as it were, like a smell, that describes them. It is, unironically, called a Signature. These Signatures can be detected by Monsters sensitive to Magic, like Boss Monsters.”

“Aren’t all Monsters sensitive to Magic?”

“To say so, my child, would be like saying all humans, for instance, can recognise people by their footsteps. While you may or may not be able to, I’m sure you can agree that not everybody can.”

“Hmm. I was leading up to this, does Chara have a difference in this signature? Seeing as her Soul was absorbed by Asriel, I’m guessing there has to be a difference somewhere.”

She is quiet for a while, then answers, “Yes, her presence is stronger, more active. Or rather, was. After Frisk fell, her signature…greatly diminished, almost nil. It’s appears as if, it has moved on, but it takes a century for human signatures to do so, I’ve seen.”

“I see. I think I may know why, but I’ll have to confer with Frisk and the Doctor about it first. By the way, how was Flowey this morning?”

“His usual self, more or less, once he saw that we did not treat him much differently.”

You reach the Throne room, where you see Asgore and Alphys in deep conversation. As soon as they see you, however, they stop. _It wasn’t abrupt. They were going to end it anyway._

“Shall we proceed?” “We shall.”

The party, led by Asgore and Stella entered a long, golden corridor.

“THIS IS THE LAST CORRIDOR, HUMAN ALEX, ALSO DUBBED THE JUDGEMENT HALL! WHAT? OH-”

“Uh-huh. Why is it called that?” You ask as you look around. _Nice architecture, light filtering in nicely. Wait. Stop walking. Everybody else has. They are silent. Stay alert._

“Because in this hall,” a voice begins, “in this corridor, they are judged. Every Monster who crosses this hall for the first time, on their way to meet the King, shall be judged. Judged for their every action, every good. Every EXP on their name, every EXP you’ve earned.”

That voice could belong to no one else, but your mind refuses to believe it. _Sans?_ He is a silhouette in front of you, only visible because of the light flowing in from behind him. _His air is different, it is the air of a person who knows and accepts his responsibility. You never fail to surprise me, Sans._

“What’s-”

“What’s EXP? It’s an acronym. It stands for “Execution Points”. A way of quantifying the pain you’ve inflicted on others. When you kill someone, your EXP increases. When you have enough EXP, your LOVE increases.”

You don’t ask, he’s probably going to explain anyway.

“LOVE, too, is an acronym. It stands for “Level Of ViolencE. A way of measuring someone’s capacity to hurt.” _Huh. I would never have guessed. That’s dark._

“The more you kill, the easier it becomes. To distance yourself. The more you distance yourself, the less you will hurt. The more easily you can bring yourself to hurt others.”

Then he steps into the light, and you see the peculiar way it shades his skull, makes him look even more intimidating than he already is, but calm and soft at the same time.

“…but you. you’ve never gained any LOVE, have you? ‘course, it doesn’t mean you’re naïve or anything. you just kept some tenderness in your heart. no matter the hardships, you’ve done the right thing, always, haven’t you? it’s always a difficult choice. i get it.”

There’s a moment of silence. _Have I? Hmm. To the best of my ability. God, he can really strike a chord._

“well, that’s all I’ve got to say. the rest of the journey, and how you judge us, is up to you, buddy.”

And with that, he disappears, only to reappear behind you.

“hey, bud. What’s wrong? Something happen?”

“VERY FUNNY, SANS.”

You gather yourself. These guys have thrown you for a loop more times in a day and a half than you have been your entire life. “What was that about?”

“i told you, it’s a tradition, and my job.”

“Your job?”

“SANS IS THE JUDGE OF THE UNDERGROUND. AND HE USUALLY DOES A PRETTY GOOD JOB OF IT! ALTHOUGH ONCE A WHILE HE DOES WORK AT OTHER PLACES. OR RATHER, USED TO.”

“not exactly my fault, is it paps? heh. brings back memories, eh, kiddo?”

“Sure does, Sans.” There is a melancholy look in their eye. One that says they have done something which no one knows about, and want to tell somebody. But there’s a trace of fear. _Fear of judgement? That’s ironic._

Chara’s visage, save for her usual hollow smile, however, is blank. _She does have a good poker face._

“You wish to see New Home, Alex?” asks the King.

“Not today, your Highness. I’ll just cover the entire Underground today.”

“A-ah. W-we’ll h-have t-to take the e-elevators, then.”

You, Stella, Papyrus, Frisk and Toriel take the first trip down to the King’s home. As the others follow, you step into the structure and notice the first thing that strikes out. _It’s…sad. That’s the only way to describe this atmosphere._ Although you want to look around, it would be an infringement of privacy, ( _No big words outside of business, Alex,_ you chide yourself) so you move to the garden.

“So you want to go through the CORE? Or straight to the hotel?” Frisk asks.

“CORE. I want to look anyway. Would be a wasted opportunity.”

“Ok,” they say and punch the button marked C.

After a few seconds of a whirring sound, the door opens to a blue wall, and in wafts a melody that can only be described as…funky?

“This is MTT’s home territory. Hence ‘fonky chonky’, as he once told me,” laughs Frisk.

“Ah. It is a pretty good bop. Ta-ta-taa-da-dadadada-do...” you hum. You can’t really help it. No matter how high assed he is, he can write good music. His debut, Death By Glamour was your present favourite. _Which begs the question…_

“Boss.”

“Hmm?”

“When you fought the guy, what was his battle resonance?”

“Songs from his Death by Glamour album.”

“Uh, doesn’t he have his own…?”

“Apparently, ghosts can modify their melodies. Napstablook is a remixer, too.”

“Oh. They both _are_ ghosts, but still, hmm.”

“Yeah.”

You move through the stage for the fight. There are still a few stage lights scattered on the top.

“WOAH, Dad, what is that?!” Stella asks, pointing at the thick white fog a little distance below the bridge connecting the stage to the rest of the CORE.

“I have no idea.”

“I-it’s a-actually the waste g-generated by the CORE!” answers Alphys.

“Huh. I thought you said the CORE doesn’t create waste?”

“T-there is n-no _net_ w-waste,” She corrects you, “T-this waste will be u-used to power the CORE i-itself, while the p-power generated by the CORE is s-supplied to the r-rest of the Underground.”

“Wow. Is it dangerous?”

“V-very. S-stay away from t-the edges, although you w-won’t fall in, you m-might g-get exposure.”

“Won’t fall in?” you echo. “but there are no railings!”

As a reply, Sans drops himself on his shoulder beyond the bridge, where he is…held up by an invisible wall?

“magical boundary fields. made invisible for ‘aesthetics’ on request of the tin can.”

“Magical boundary? Will it hold up humans?”

“well, we only have a sample space of one. it holds up frisk. why don’t you give it a push?”

You tentatively reach out a hand…and are met with a very much solid resistance.

“Interesting. Very, very interesting,” you murmur, and notice Sans staring at you strangely and shaking his head out of the corner of your eye.

“anything else?”

“Yeah, did you build the CORE Alphys? I never got to ask.”

“M-me? Nah, I m-mean, d-do I look like I c-can?”

“Absolutely. Very much so.”

“Yeah, tell her, punk! No room for self-esteem issues here! Confidence Suplex! Ngaaah!”

And the Amazonian proceeds to Suplex the poor doctor. Alphys doesn’t even have time to protest or even voice her surprise, resulting in a soft ‘hngh’, and nothing else. Then she just gets up, cracks her neck, and replies dryly, “Thanks, that really helped.”

“You’re always welcome, Al!”

“Anyways,” you pick up, “If you didn’t, who did?”

“T-that would b-be my p-predecessor! Doctor-” She freezes, her eyes go blank, so blank, you had seen dead bodies with livelier eyes. You feel a chill at that look. _What the hell?_

Then she recovers and continues, “O-oh. S-seems like I f-forgot! Ehehe. S-shall we continue, t-then?”

“Wait, holdup, stop,” you look around, all four humans have varying degrees of surprise and confusion on their face, while the Monsters’ faces just wonder what happened to you.

“King Asgore? Who was the previous Royal Scientist?”

“I knew him very well, actually! His name is G-” and he freezes, with the same, dead look in his eyes, recovers, and apologises as well. Something in you is screaming _“This shouldn’t happen! Stop asking!”_ But you continue anyway. You ask Toriel, Undyne, Papyrus, even Sans. Multiple times. All of them say and do the exact same things. Start, freeze, recover, apologize. Start, freeze, recover, apologize. Like they're reciting a pre-written dialogue. With the same fluctuations. The same intonations. 

Even Sans is the same, although he does say the name for a split second more than the others. “his name’s gast-” And that’s it. That's his line. What’s worse, none of them seem to find this disturbing, hell, they don’t even find it odd. They just have their heads ramrod straight at you. They don’t even react to the fact that you’ve asked the same question to each of them again and again.

_What the Fuck is Going On?!_

The humans have just horror on their faces now, and Stella has begun to cry softly.

“Dad, what’s happening to them?” she whispers, and bursts out into more silent sobs. The Monsters ignore this as well. You kneel to comfort her.

“Shh, dear, Daddy will find out, okay? Daddy will fix this. Don’t cry, I’ll find out what’s wrong and fix it, just like I always do, okay? Trust me.”

She nods and wipes her eyes, and heads over to Frisk, who hugs her tight. Chara looks straight at you. Her eyes ask the same questions you are asking yourself. _What’s going on? How will you fix this?_

_Take a deep breath. Stand up. Give them a practiced smile. Pick up where you left off. And hope for the best._

“Well, let’s not delay anymore, shall we Doctor?” _Fingers crossed. Please break the trance, please..._

“O-oh? A-ah yes, come on, just get in, you’ll reach the CORE entrance. W-what happened to S-stella?” _Oh Thank God..._

“It’s probably the atmosphere, all this smell of ozone is giving me a headache as well.”

“Oh. W-well, d-don’t wait, then. G-go on!”

This time, it’s a smaller elevator, so just you, Stella, Frisk and by extension, Chara, get on.

As soon as the door closes, everybody lets loose. Stella climbs and clutches your torso. You hug her in place.

“What the fuck was that?!”

_“Language, Frisk. There is a child here. And I have no idea as well. Their reactions were quite disturbing. And we’ve seen a lot.”_

“I’m scared, Daddy.”

“It’s okay, sweetie. Just don’t bring up that topic around them, okay? They’ll be fine.”

“Mmm.”

The elevator opens. You quickly get off and head straight to the hotel. _The view can wait._

Inside, you find a cat monster next to the now dry fountain, hands in his pockets and smoking a cigarette. As soon as he sees you, however, he pulls it out and sniffs it out under his foot. He walks forward, hand outstretched. _Do the same._

“Tobias,” he says, “I used to work at the MTT burger emporium over there.” He nods in a direction and you follow, finding the said establishment closed, of course. “The Boss told me you guys would be here today, so he sent me here in case you needed anything. I’m glad to get out of there anyway. You’re Alex, right?” _He talks continuously, as if he is rarely given the chance to talk at all._

“Yeah, I’m the Vice Ambassador. Nice to meet you, Tobias.”

“Just call me Burgerpants, or BP. Everyone does.”

“Alright. So, BP, are the rooms still usable? We need one.” You figure it won’t be so bad to take a break. Especially after what happened.

“Sure. This way,” he leads to your left, “There are no keys, unfortunately. We used Magic to lock the doors once they were done with the room, and the visitors locked it with their own Magic.”

“That’s fine, we don’t need a lock, we’ll just be resting.”

“Okay then. Have a good time.” With that, he leaves, probably to smoke again. The twitch of his hands and the small thick rectangle in his right pocket had already told you he was a chain smoker. Funny how the symptoms are really similar across races.

“You’re quite observant, and think on your feet. I’m glad we hired you.” Apparently, you were thinking out loud. “Yeah, me too. Confusing and frightening as this situation is, it is very interesting. And I love interesting things.” You answer your boss.

 _“Oh. Looks like the stress was a little too much for her.”_ Chara notes. You see that Stella had fallen fast asleep.

“I don’t really blame her,” you say as you place her carefully on the bed. “It scared the fuck out of me too.”

_“What is it with you two and profanities?” Oh god, she’s cute when she's angry as well, send help…_

“A deep and intimate relationship.” You wink at Frisk.

“Yeah, it’s polyamorous, but deep and loving all the same.” They wink back.

 _“Oh god, he’s worse. Why did I even hope-”_ She shuts up, but the damage had been done.

“Oh? You hoped, _senorita_?” You get up with a smirk. “What did you hope for, pray tell?” You teased in your silkiest, sexiest voice. She already begins to redden. _So easy. And maybe this’ll quiet me down a bit as well._ You lean in close to her ear, voice an octave lower, nearly a whisper, “Was it me, you hoped for, _mon amour_? If so, do tell, for I’m ready to be at your disposal, for I crave for the command of your softest whisper, your-”

 _“SHUT UP! Shutupshutupohmygodpleasefuckinggoddammit,”_ She bursts out, red as a cherry, realises what she's done, and goes to the far corner to protest and sulk. _Nope, that didn't lessen shit. It fucking amplified it. I just can't help it._

“And Your Honour, I rest my case. The fact that the defendant also indulges in profanities has now been proven by the prosecution. Please deliver your judgement.” You say triumphantly, with an elaborate half-bow to Frisk.

“Guilty! Bwahahaha!” They bark out, eyes tearing up in laughter. “You’re really good at this! Have you had practice? Maybe with a girl of your own?”

_Why do I get the feeling they’re asking for someone else? ...Oh wait. Oh. Ohhh, you bloody matchmaker._

“Nah, Chief. Just going by instinct and knowledge here. No experience whatsoever.”

You could swear you heard a very, very soft sigh of relief from behind you. You start, and smile at the implications.

You head over to the chair next the bed and sit down, chin resting on your chest, going standby. _What's taking the gang so long? Have they frozen again?_

After a few more minutes of silence, multiple footsteps sound in the lobby. The Monsters are back, it seems. You go out to ask what took them so long, only to find that everybody except Sans and Alphys are carrying heavy machinery, and the two short Monsters are debating and working out something intensely.

“What’s wrong?”

“OH, HELLO, HUMAN ALEX!” replies Papyrus as everyone sets down the machinery. “IT SEEMS THERE WAS A SLIGHT PROBLEM WITH ONE OF THE CORE’S COMPONENTS, WHICH I BELIEVE DR. ALPHYS CALLED A CHRONOCALIBRATOR? SOON AFTER YOU LEFT. SO, WE REMOVED IT, REPLACED THE DEFECTIVE PARTS WITH REPLACEMENTS KEPT FOR EMERGENCIES SUCH AS THESE, AND BROUGHT THE SAID DEFECTIVE PARTS FOR THE GOOD DOCTOR TO REPAIR HERE!”

“I see. Can I help in any way?” You ask. Frisk had followed you out. Stella is still out like a light.

“not really, bud. this is outside your area of EXPertise, heh. just leave it to us.” _That was just…bad._

“Okay. Well, Stella’s sleeping. The CORE was a bit too much on her, I think. Can you guys keep an eye on her?”

“S-sure thing!”

“So, do you want to take a rest, or do we keep going?” You ask the rest of the gang.

“I’m up for going!” Undyne replies, then deflates, “but, Hotland.”

“What about Hotland?”

“HOTLAND SUCKSSS!” She proclaims.

“Hmm, you _are_ a fish, so…maybe when we reach the end of Hotland, we’ll call, and you just race over there?”

“Yeah, that’s a good idea! I’ll wait here with Alphys then!”

“WELL, SEEING AS I’M A SKELETON, I’LL HAVE LITTLE PROBLEM WITHSTANDING THE HEAT, NYEH HEH HEH!”

“I’ll be fine too, so I suppose we can move. What about you, Tori? I mean,” Asgore hastily corrects, “Toriel.”

“I suppose the three of you might be enough to show Alex around. I shall stay and look after Stella, and bring her to you if she wishes so.”

“ALRIGHTY, LET’S GO! COME ON, MY FRIENDS!”

“Coming, coming.” You and Frisk chorus, before smiling and shooting finger guns at each other. You hear a grumble along the lines of _‘now I’m stuck with TWO shameless flirts, I suppose this is hell.’_

“Hmm? What was that?” You ask playfully. All you get is a _‘hmmph’_ , a pout, and her turned back. _Oh man… if she's getting a body, I’m sure as fuck going after her,_ you decide.

After all, no matter who you lied to, you never lied to yourself.

Why start now?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Woo, I'm actually happy with this one. A bit. Just a tiny bit.
> 
> Nah, who am I kidding.
> 
> Enjoy!  
> AND LEAVE A COMMENT!
> 
> OR ELSE!


	5. Three left

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have a surprise test, so I couldn't get this one out yesterday.   
> Enjoy!

And you thought the weird stuff was over.

_Nope. This is not happening._

_…Fuck._

“Well, shit.” Frisk echoes under their breath.

The four of you had decided to explore Hotland level by level. And now after moving through the stage of the musical, Muffet’s residence and some puzzles which were partially deactivated, you were at an elevator, L3. The place itself was non-descript. An elevator, its shaft, a dead end, and a Monster in grayscale.

Yeah, a Monster in grayscale.

Asgore and Papyrus _were_ right behind you, but _now_ they are nowhere in sight.

“Well, let’s try talking to them,” they say.

“Umm, hello?” You try from a distance. The Monster, if it _is_ that, is just staring blankly into space, not even a flicker of movement or emotion on their face at your greeting.

“Hello?” Frisk tries, this time from a closer distance. It seems to work.

 _“It makes sense why ASGORE took so long to hire a new Royal Scientist.”_ They begin. Abruptly. Like reciting a pre-written line. Again. “ _After all, the old one...” No way._ You exchange an incredulous glance with the other two humans. “… _Doctor Gaster. What an act to follow!”_

_So, the guy’s name is Doctor Gaster._

_“They say he created the CORE. However, his life... was cut short.”_

You don’t interrupt him. You don’t think you can, actually.

 _“One day, he fell into his creation, and...”_ They trail off for a moment.

_He fell into the CORE? That’s where the freezing happened. Though it could be a coincidence. Does-_

_“Will Alphys end up the same way?” Oh, that isn’t ominous at all._

And they vanish. Just…poof. _This is a fucking puzzle-slash-nightmare, this is._

“Howdy! What happened? You two look like you’ve seen a ghost! Hohoho!”

That snaps you out of your thoughts. You turn to him with a smile. _Sort this out later. Don’t mention this. He just might freeze again._ “It’s nothing mentionable, your Highness. Will this elevator take all of us?”

“OF COURSE, IT WILL! DOCTOR ALPHYS MADE IT FOR PUBLIC TRANSPORT, AFTER ALL!”

The four of you get in, and Asgore sets the target as R1. At your questioning glance, he smiles apologetically and says, “Alphys just contacted me, she said there are some technical issues on the second level that make it uncrossable. Nothing to worry about, my friend, there is hardly anything noteworthy there!”

_“It’s rather unremarkable, yes.”_

“It’s fine, Asgore. I’ll take your word for it. I am just curious about the Underground, is all.” You reply to the King.

And as the door opens, the impulse to swear loudly just rises to the tip of your tongue.

There is another gray figure there. _I’ve seen a similar guy, haven’t I? Outside Muffet’s bakery. He was holding a donut the same way this guy’s holding a…head-like blob?_

“Grrr, let’s just listen to what he has to say.”

“Why the ‘Grrr’?”

“They froze again.”

It’s true, they are looking straight ahead with calm smiles. Like in the CORE.

_“We really need to find the source of this situation. This cannot go any longer. Who knows how this is affecting them?”_

This time, you go first. Before you say something, however, the person gives a little jump and starts talking. In rhymes.

_“Alphys might work faster. But the old Royal Scientist, Doctor W.D. Gaster?_

_One day, he vanished without a trace; they say he shattered across time and space._

_Ha Ha... how can I say so without fear? I'm holding a piece of him right here.”_

And poof…he’s gone as well. _That was quick, if nothing else._ Right on cue, Papyrus says, “THIS IS THE LOWEST LEVEL-! WHAT! HAVE YOU LEARNT TO TAKE SHORTCUTS THROUGH SPACE-TIME AS WELL, HUMANS?!”

“No, Paps, we…” you sigh and turn to Frisk, “Telling them the truth might be the best option here, boss.”

 _“Hmm. I agree.”_ “Yeah, I suppose so.”

“What is the matter, my friend?”

“Strange things have been happening, Your Highness. It might be best to explain once everyone is at the same place. Could you ask everyone to gather at Alphys’ Lab once they are ready?”

“You seem serious.”

“I am, sir.”

“Alright, I shall do so immediately.”

As Asgore proceeds to call the others, Frisk asks, “Do you know where the Lab is?”

“Of course not. But being the Royal Scientist, she has to have a lab, right?”

“Oh, right.”

“They are coming. Let’s head on as well,” says Asgore, leading the way.

You pass through many puzzles. (“People went through this for daily transport?!” _“Not exactly. Although, puzzles_ are _an integral aspect of Monster culture, so it ought not to be a surprise.”_ )

Soon, you reach a stark white building, with the words LAB written prominently on the top.

Inside, you find Alphys dizzying around, her Hum in full swing, apparently in search for something. Which has borne fruit, as is evident by her victorious, “AH-HA!”. Then she finds you. “O-oh, you’re h-here! The others are on the second floor!”

“You have a second floor?” Frisk asks.

“O-of course! Y-you really t-thought my Lab is t-this small?”

“Well, with the lower level, I thought…”

“T-the basement is t-the Bio-Magic wing.” She explains. “The g-ground floor is m-my Monitoring room, f-first floor is the d-drawing board and the s-second is Mecha-Magic wing.”

“OOOHH! ACTUALLY, I KNEW THAT THE GOOD DOCTOR HAD MORE AREAS OF WORK! BUT ALAS, I, THE GREAT PAPYRUS, FAILED TO NOTICE YOUR CONFUSION AND SOLVE IT, HUMAN FRISK! DO NOT BE ANGRY AT ME! IT WAS A SINCERE MISTAKE!”

“Of course, I’m not mad at you, Papyrus. I didn’t know you knew, after all. But…”

You clap a hand on their mouth. “Don’t.”

“Wha-? Why not?”

“INDEED, HUMAN ALEX! WHY DID YOU STOP THEM FROM SPEAKING? IS SOMETHING THE MATTER?”

“I’ll tell you guys soon, Paps. As for you, boss,” you lean in to whisper so that only they and Chara can hear, “Papyrus never knew Alphys personally before the breaking of the Barrier, right? And you have visited this place twice. If he knows something you didn’t find out earlier, where do you think the knowledge came from?”

“I don’t follow...”

_“I do. He is implying that Papyrus knew Doctor Gaster. Personally. To the extent that Papyrus knew the details of the Lab from him.”_

“Exactly.”

Their eyes fly open. “Oh.”

“Hmm. Now then, shall we go, Doctor?” you address the lizard.

“R-right. F-follow me.”

She leads the four of you to the first floor to a machine which seems to spit out some…pink stuff? She opens a keypad on it and punches a few digits ( _89661,_ your brain registers) which moves the whole machine to the left to reveal a doorway, leading to another escalator. Alphys enters first, followed by Asgore, you, Papyrus and Frisk.

At the top, you step to the side from behind Asgore and are promptly overloaded with information. _Robot parts. Phones. Designs. Labels, papers scratches lights wirespeoplesoundscolors-hrngh-toomuch…_ You smile wryly as you recognize the symptoms. _Hello, sensory overload, my old friend._ You stumble, and both the skeleton and the king hold you from falling.

“OH NO! ARE YOU ALRIGHT, HUMAN ALEX?”

“What is it, my friend? Come here, sit down.” Both their voices are laced with concern.

You plop on a nearby _bluerotatingmediumheightflexibleshutup_ chair and grin tiredly. “It’s nothing, just, ngh, a sensory overload.”

“Your S.O.’s aren’t nothing Dad,” interrupts Stella softly, tying a cloth over your eyes and ears.

“My significant others?” you ask with a crooked smile, causing a few chuckles, at which you wince.

“Har, har. Now shush. No moving.”

“Thanks.” You lean back into your chair, and try to quiet your brain, still trying to process stuff.

 _“You okay?”_ You hear Chara whisper after a while. _Oh god, what I wouldn’t give to have that voice talk to me like that again…Maybe if I act like that…_

“‘M fine.” You mumble.

_“Mhmm. And I’m corporeal.”_

“You will be. Soon.” You say out loud. You think you can actually hear Frisk do a double take.

_“This again… You do know they have no knowledge of my existence, right?”_

“We’ll just have to fix that, won’t we?” You chuckle.

“You sure?” asks Frisk.

_“You wouldn’t…”_

“Who are you talking to, Dad?”

You take off your blindfold, having recovered enough, looking at everybody. Chara has abject terror on her face, Frisk has apprehension, everybody else is just confused.

 _Bombs away!_ “A really nice ghost lady,” you say, looking straight at Chara, then at Toriel, “who goes by the name of Chara Dreemurr.”

Everyone is shocked. There is pin drop silence for a solid minute. And then some.

“Did he, uh, hit his head or something?” asks Undyne.

“No, I didn’t,” you smile cheerfully.

“You aren’t helping your case with that smile there, punk.”

“No, he’s right,” says Frisk, “Chara is here, and has been with me from the moment I fell on the flowerbed in the Ruins.”

“Is this why you enquired of…?” asks Toriel. More like whispers.

“Exactly.” You nod, and turn to Alphys. “Doctor?”

“E-eh?”

“You have something that can scan Signatures?”

“I, u-uh, n-not e-exactly for human S-signatures! I’ll h-have t-t-to m-make one from the M-monster template! I h-h-have _n-no_ idea what t-to make of t-this situation! B-but, I’ll t-try!”

Alphys then _sprints_ to the other end of the room, grabs a face shield and immediately sets to drill something.

“That’s my Alphys,” whispers Undyne, with a soft smile on her face.

“Alex, are you…quite sure?” asks Asgore, who has approached you with Toriel by his side. In answer, you point to your left, where Chara is floating.

Both look at each other for a moment. Well, Chara looks at them, while they look at thin air. Chara then says, _“Umm, Alex, tell them,”_ she blushes slightly, _“Now, The God of Hyperdeath and the Devil of Determination are back, just like they promised.”_

“Uh, she asks me to tell you,” you smile, _their childhood nicknames?_ “Now the God of Hyperdeath and the Devil of Determination are back, just like they promised.”

Both the royals gasp and smile widely.

“Well,” starts Toriel, beaming, tears glistening in her eyes, “If we aren’t the luckiest people in the world right now-”

“I-it’s r-ready!” Alphys interrupts unknowingly, rolling a faintly green colored, glass-like screen, about as tall as you, square shaped, towards the center of the room.

“That was extremely fast, Doctor. No wonder you’re the Royal Scientist.” You say, with a tone of slight admiration.

“A-a-ah, i-it’s nothing…”

“Alphys! What did I tell you about compliments?!”

“Um, I m-mean, yeah, t-thanks, Alex.” _They are helping each other, ahh so cute…_

“A-anyway, um, Miss Chara?” Alphys addresses a slightly wrong direction, but you don’t correct her. _Not necessary._ “If you c-could, uh, m-move to the other s-side of this screen, p-please.”

She complies, and you see a thermal imaging like shape in red, that resembles her. The intensity is maximum at the center of her chest, and steadily decreases outwards in a human like shape.

“Can you see me?” She asks. _The ghostly quality is gone from her voice, hmmm. Wait a minute…_

“WE CAN, YOUR HIGHNESS PRINCESS CHARA!” replies Papyrus. _As I thought._

“Wait, you can hear me as well?”

“Apparently we can, my child,” Toriel is mostly composed now, but still smiling. The King on the other hand, has tears flowing freely.

“Allow me to express my admiration of your skills, Doctor Alphys.” The serious effect of the formal words is slightly ruined by the incredulousness and the excitement in Chara’s voice. _She must have missed being heard._

“A-ah! U-um, thanks!”

“That was some legendary speed.”

“I know, right? She modernized my phone from the 1800’s to 2500’s in 4 seconds flat!” beams Frisk.

“There were no phones in 1800, but I get your point.”

“U-um, p-please, no more, eheheh.” The scientist mumbles, blushing.

“Hey Dad.”

“Yeah?”

“Do you see her like a red human shaped blob too?”

“No, I see her like a normal person, except maybe a bit translucent. When they are not behind the screen, that is. Hmm. Red. Boss?” You signal Frisk. She nods with an evil grin.

“I probably haven’t told you this before, Chara,” you drawl, “but you are really good looking.”

“Yeah, one might even say you’re…” continues Frisk.

“Red-Hot.” You both finish with a wink and finger guns.

“…”

Chara doesn’t say anything, but the red becomes brighter. Toriel giggles when she notices, and everyone follows suit.

“gee. all this in a day and a half, bud.” Sans winks at you. “got anything else to say?”

“Actually, yes.”

“i was kidding, but still, what is it?”

You take a breath, “Does the name Doctor W. D. Gaster ring any bells?”

“doc-”

“Don’t repeat after me.”

“okay. no, but it feels like it should.”

You look over everyone. They seem to share the same feeling. You nod at Frisk, they nod back. _You’re good to go._

“Okay, so Doctor Gaster was the previous Royal Scientist.”

You keep your eyes ready for any signals.

“Doctor Ga-” Undyne begins, despite your warning, and freezes. Only this time everybody notices.

“OH DEAR!”

“wuh-oh.”

“Golly!”

“Hey! Undyne, here!” You try to grab her attention. It works. She does a double take.

“What the fu-uh, heck was that?”

“Yeah, do you remember how I asked if Alphys was the one who built the CORE and she was being self-derogatory?”

“Yeah.”

“What’s the next thing you remember?”

“You asking who did build it, and Al saying it was her predecessor.”

“And?”

“And then you were like, ‘Well, that was fun, let’s go.’”

“You see, between those two lines, five minutes passed. I asked each of you who the guy was, multiple times, and each of you became like Undyne right now.”

“THAT MUST HAVE BEEN QUITE FRIGHTENING! IS THAT WHY LITTLE STELLA WAS NOT FEELING WELL?”

“Exactly.”

“I see. So, how did you know of the name, my child?” enquires Toriel.

You narrate the two encounters at L3 and R1.

“I think there might be more.” You finish.

Everybody falls silent again.

“Now we have three people to SAVE,” states Frisk.

“Good thing I came along, eh?” You joke, as you get up. “Well, let’s get going. Knowing our luck, we’ll probably get more clues in Waterfall.”

“Flowey will probably be waiting for us, though I doubt it. He likes to come late deliberately.” Frisk sighs and gets up as well.

“O-oh wait! H-here, Frisk, this s-speaker will make Chara a-audible to all of u-us. Just pin it to your shoulder.”

 _“Thank y- hey, switch that thing on, Frisk._ Thank you doctor.”

“D-don’t mention it. I-it’s my j-job, after all. Eheheh.”

Everybody goes down the escalators and gather at the ground floor.

“And thank you as well, Alex. I…really didn’t think you would try to follow through.”

“It’s fine really. Though it seems you have a pretty poor opinion of people, huh.”

“Well, yes. But you and Frisk are improving it, for what it’s worth. You especially.”

“Um, thanks.” You say, scratching the back of your neck. _She is one of the only people who can make you nervous this way,_ your brain provides. _Yeah, thanks, brain. Very helpful._

The two humans move out of the Lab and you follow. To your left is a staircase going to a river of sorts, and to your right is the elevator L1, a small distance away. You pass a water cooler (“For me when I come to Hotland, to visit Al or to monitor patrols!”), a _very_ narrow bridge (“this one has fields too, no worries.”), and a sentry station with…snow on the roof? No explanations come forth, so you leave it be.

There is a digital sign, spelling WELCOME TO WATERFALL in blue at the beginning of a cave. “That’s strange,” you hear Frisk say, “whenever I passed this way it said welcome to Hotland.”

“I-it tracks your d-direction using magic s-sensors, so the s-sign c-changes accordingly.” Alphys explains. “The first time, U-Undyne chased you, so the sensors f-followed her Magic to d-display Hotland. It d-didn’t change when you moved b-back and forth because you d-don’t have Magic, you see.”

“Ah. Memories, eh, Undyne?”

There is no reply, she has moved farther to the front to show off to your daughter. You pick up the words ‘epic duel’, ‘photos’, ‘boss fights’, and ‘My Arena’. You give up trying to eavesdrop, and breathe in the humid air of Waterfall as you exit the cave-tunnel.

“Now this is MY territory. Fuhuhuhu!” the warrior laughs as the rest of you smile and make your way through the bluish-purple pathways.

You feel as if two pairs of eyes are watching you.

One of them curious, calculating. The other confused, shy.

Both are hopeful.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Fuhuhu didn't expect two simultaneous reveals, didja?
> 
> I still don't know how to end chapters properly smh.
> 
> Does this chapter, or the story itself, feel rushed? Let me know!
> 
> If not, leave a comment anyways! It motivates me!


	6. Familiarity

“Oi, idiot. What’re you looking at?” _Well, that’s one way to greet someone._

“The ceiling. It is quite beautiful for someone who hasn’t lived under it his entire life, I would say. How are you, Flowey?”

“Pretty fine for some who’s had their greatest secret pulled out from under their metaphorical feet, _I_ would say.”

“About that,” you look at the flower with an apologetic expression, “Sorry. I should have asked you or something.”

“Nah, it’s fine.” He conveys a shrug…somehow. “You ripped out that band-aid. I’ll probably feel lighter if I am to separate from Asriel anyway.”

“So, you forgive me?”

“I was never mad at you for that. Although,” the flower squints in contemplation, “Life has been going _preeetty_ wild when you came along, hasn’t it? Chara. War crimes. Me. And some dude called Gaster, now I hear. And I’ve seen a lot of wild. Can’t you go slow?”

“I can be as patient as the next person,” you sigh as you start walking, the flower popping up every few feet to catch up with you. He seems used to travelling like that. “But I don’t wait when I have the choice, usually. Delay has only brought pain, from personal experience. Better get it out of the way, look at the next thing coming and prepare for its arrival, y’know?”

“Hmm. You’re an interesting one.”

“I suppose that insures my life, against your ‘boredom’.”

“Frisk told you, huh.”

“Some. There are some things they…” you trail off as notice the human and the ghost having a conversation. You seem to be the subject, so you listen. Flowey listens as well. _Ah, yes, shameless shitheads that we are,_ you think wryly.

“We should tell him.” Frisk begins.

 _“No. Absolutely not.”_ There is finality in the ghost’s voice already.

“Why not?”

_“I don’t trust him.”_

“You what?!” _You what?_

 _“Voice down. Yes, it may seem contrary to how I have been treating him, but it’s true.”_ You feel a small prick of hurt at that, but you quell it. _She must have her reasons._

“Explain?”

 _“What he has done, and is doing for…us, is worthy of my gratitude, and my gratitude only. I shall_ _choose when to trust him.”_ _…That’s fair._

“You said he, especially, changed your view of humanity!”

_“He is changing it, yes, with his attitude and kindness, but he’s not…it’s complicated, Frisk.”_

“You’re just being a tsundere.”

_“Being a tsundere implies certain things I do not feel for him.” Is that so?_

“Sounds like denial to me~”

_“Do not change the topic. You trust Toriel, do you not? Why don’t you tell her what you…what we did to her?”_

“…” _What did_ _you do to her, boss?_

 _“You are having trouble answering that question with regard to the kindest mother in the world, and yet you wish to share this information to one we have hardly known for a full day.”_ There is a slight difference in the way they speak now _. Slowly. Carefully. Weighing each fragment of each sentence before vocalising them._

“We have to tell him _someday._ ”

_“Someday, yes. Today, no.”_

That seems to be the end of that conversation. If they are having so much trouble talking about it, you suppose you’ll do them a favour and not pry.

Pry with them, that is.

 _“What was that about?”_ You think to yourself, and ask the flower by your side the same.

“It used to be my secret,” he says, “but now it’s theirs, and theirs to share.”

“You actually respect Frisk’s boundaries?” you ask, slightly incredulous.

“I respect Chara’s.” He says, noncommittally. “And it is a serious, and quite an unbelievable topic.”

“Ah.” You reach a bridge. “Wait, how’ll you cross this… _bridge_?”

“I take the long route through the ground.” He says, not even gracing that bad pun with a reaction.

“Alright. I’ll go talk to the others. See you later?”

“Yeah, whatever.” He holes back into the ground without a trace. You cross the bridge, which is again, very narrow. And this time there are no fields. But the fall isn’t exactly high. Dangerous for kids, you could say.

After crossing and walking a distance, you get your first glimpse of the Echo Flower. _Beautiful._ Stella is peering at it, open mouthed, while everybody stands nearby, watching fondly.

“What are you gaping at, kid? It’s just a flower,” you say, ruffling her hair.

“Dad, it’s _glowing!_ ”

“Yeah, it’s pretty.” You reach out and stroke it. _‘And this, my child, is an Echo Flower…’_

You chuckle quietly. “Why don’t you try saying something?”

She bounces in place, reaches out, pats it and says, “I’m Stella Rider!”

“Very original,” you laugh.

She huffs and pats it again. _‘‘I’m Stella Rider!’ ‘Very original, haha…’’_

“Aww, look, that got recorded too!” She smiles, and then, “Argh! My feet are all wet!”

“You didn’t notice before?”

“Nooo, hmmm, I don’t wanna walk like this…” She pouts. You shrug.

“Don’t, then. We’ll pick you up on our way back. Ciao~!” You say and start walking ahead. You hear a cry of indignation and several amused reactions.

“What? I did ask if you took your wellingtons. What did you expect at a place called Waterfall?”

She doesn’t say anything and just sits on the bank, so you relent and walk over.

“Fine, take off your shoes and socks.” You sigh. She complies, and yelps in surprise when you pick her up and hoist her smoothly on your shoulders, where she tries to make quick work of your hair.

“Don’t pull, Stella. I’ll go bald.” She giggles and clasps your head instead.

“You make it seem easy, punk.” Undyne scoffs. You shrug again, jostling your protesting daughter. You can’t see her expression, but she’s _probably_ smiling.

“She’s light as a fly, that’s why. Can we leave these here?”

“They’ll be fine, no one comes down here nowadays, anyway. Even if they did, they won’t be taking random shoes.”

“Alright.” You say and start walking again, leading the party.

A while later, you arrive in a field of Echo flowers.

“They are quite beautiful, are they not?” sighs Chara. Then for some unfathomable reason, she squints at the chip-like speaker clipped on Frisk’s shoulder. “How did you know how to make this…thing, Doctor?”

“O-oh? Well, as y-you know, I w-was working with S-souls and Fallen Monsters, w-who cannot communicate n-normally. S-so I m-made this! It uses t-the variation of I-Intent to formulate words, b-basically. S-since you have full c-consciousness, w-we can hear t-thing the way y-you say. It has e-even helped when I had t-to talk to the Amalgamates p-properly. I was improving t-the design a-anyway, so that their f-families can talk to them e-easily!”

“Wouldn’t the requirements be different for Amalgamates and human Signatures?” You ask.

“Well, y-yeah, but it’s a s-simple matter of i-integrating the Field detectors and the speakers with the Scan a-amplifier so that we could maximise the effective Signature input, but if there was o-only another cryo-analyser in it I may have, hmm, t-this could use some work, maybe we can split the Multibracket into a frequency modulator and a-”

“Alphys,” you interrupt the lizard, a wide amused grin on your face, “Don’t get me wrong, I like to hear you work out stuff, but I have absolutely no idea what you’re talking about.”

“E-eh? Oh, I-I was r-rambling again, w-wasn’t I?”

“It’s fine, I just stopped you to take a breath. But woah, you’re quite the genius, eh, Doctor?”

“Umm, eheheh, I’m not-” She starts to deny, blushing, but one look at Undyne’s wide grin, which has a threatening undertone, and she quickly amends, “A-ah, I m-mean, thanks!”

“Oh man,” Frisk changes the topic, looking around, “I remember how Undyne chased me across Waterfall, but she never came here. I wouldn’t know where she would strike, but Kid always did, he saved my skin, like, so many times!”

“I was going easy on you punk! That kid was just following my patrol route!”

“E-except on the bridge, y-you weren’t supposed to p-patrol the b-bridge that day.” Alphys contradicts, boldly. For her, anyway.

“Ahh, uhmm, well, Of course I did! They were a human on the loose after all!”

“How did you know that, Alphys?” You ask.

“C-cameras, I have one n-nearly every 50 m-meters.”

“Most of them are in Snowdin and Waterfall, but there were a few in Hotland.” Frisk giggles as they recount, “Once, as Alphys was guiding me through Hotland, she gave me the wrong direction a third time. Frustrated, I pulled a trick. I saw a camera, went up to it, looked straight into it and went,” they make a very seductive face, bedroom eyes and all, licking a canine, smirking, “And it worked. She couldn’t call me for 20 minutes straight.”

“O-oh god, I remember that, Mettaton just c-couldn’t stop l-laughing,” mutters Alphys.

“The Master of Flirting, huh.” You grin.

“That title…would certainly not fall short. Frisk flirted with just about every Monster they laid their eyes on. Still does, mind you.” Chara shudders at the memories.

“Including me! Oh dear, the first thing they asked was whether they could call me Mom! And the next was, “Hey momma, did you sit on sugar?” Everybody laughs. _They laugh all the time._ _This feels nice. I could probably get used to this._

“I can’t help it; it is my natural state of being,” they counter.

“Well, I suppose that would make just me and Alex who haven’t suffered the attack of the Flirt master.” Asgore chuckles.

“Don’t be so sure of that, daddy dearest.” They sidle up to the King.

“Oh, dear.” He wipes his brow with a towel in an exaggerated display of nervousness.

“Yes, dear?” Frisk blinks innocently at him, as everybody else laughs again.

You gag, an audible challenge. Their eyes fall on you, devilishly competitive.

“Well, well, who do we have here~? Hello, handsome stranger~”

“Greetings.” You reply in your coldest voice. Chara coughs in a way that seems suspiciously like a laugh. Frisk doesn’t give up, however; must be all that Determination.

“Hmm, I know! You’re cute, I’m cute, together we’ll be a cute couple!” They say, closing eyes for Full Dorky Effect.

“It won’t work out,” you shake your head in mock sadness, “because Heaven’s going to call me up someday, and tell me,” You tilt their chin up towards you, and half-close your eyes, “I have their missing Angel.” You say, voice similar but not as strong as the one used on Chara. They go _red_ , blushing furiously. “Oh?” You smirk, letting go, “Can give, but can’t take? My, aren’t you generous.”

“Fufufufu, looks like a worthy opponent, eh, punk? This battle will be legendary!” Undyne declares making a fist. On the side, you see Asgore and Toriel whisper something to each other and shake their hands. _A bet? Hmmm…_

You note that you’ve reached solid ground again. “Hey. It’s dry ground, get down.” You tell your daughter.

“I don’t have shoes.”

“Not a problem.”

“It is.”

“Hmph, okay,” you keep walking, and notice a telescope. And a familiar skeleton next to it. _This can’t possibly go well._

“heya kid. wanna try this this telescope out?” He asks the girl on your shoulder.

“Umm, sure.” She says, climbing down. _Curiosity kills the cat._

“normally it costs 10000g, but since i know you, i’ll let you have it for free.”

“Oh! Ok!” She jumps to the scope as you scoff, “Good thing I know you, huh.”

“why do you phrase it like that?” he asks with a wink. You are just starting to reply, when-

“Why is it pink?” She turns and looks at you. _The eye she put to the piece is circled in pink. Ohmygod…_

“Pfffft, hah hah hah haaa,” you burst out laughing, as do the others. Frisk shows an indignant Stella the mark on the camera and then wipes it off, with a long-suffering sigh of someone who has fallen for the same prank.

“what, didn’t meet your expectations? don’t worry, i’ll give you a full refund.”

“Ok, that was funny.” The kid admits, smiling. “Now let’s go!”

As she walks forward, now mindless of her bare feet, you take a look at the ceiling. The crystals glitter, looking convincingly like actual stars. Some are actually arranged into a couple of constellations. _Orion and Ursa Major._

“not quite close to the real deal, huh?”

“Mmm, but convincing enough,” you answer.

“IS IT? IT DOESN'T SEEM THAT WAY TO ME. NOTHING CAN COMPARE TO THE ACTUAL STARS I SAY, THEY ARE QUITE BEAUTIFUL!”

“Well yeah, but that's just difference in perspective. I have grown up taking the stars for granted, so I see these crystals, find them real enough. For you guys, who have never seen the real deal, it would be quite precious.”

“THAT IS A PRETTY ACCURATE DESCRIPTION!”

“I suppose so. Tell me more about life in the Underground, Paps. You're the only one I can ask without hurting any sentiments.”

“WE ARE NOT _THAT_ SENSITIVE ABOUT IT, ALEX! BUT I AGREE, THE GREAT PAPYRUS IS THE GO-TO SOLUTION FOR ANY PROBLEM! WHAT DO YOU WISH TO KNOW?”

You grin and say, “How about we start with the 'stars'?”

“SURE! HERE, IN WATERFALL, WE HAVE A ROOM CALLED THE WISHING ROOM...”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Heya.  
> Sorry for the delay, I've been a bit down in the dumps for the last few days. This chapter is not quite up to the mark for the same reason.  
> Maybe I'll get better?  
> Updates will be sporadic, until, umm, June 1. I'll still be updating, but not regularly.  
> Thanks for all the comments and feedback! They kept me going!  
> Do share your opinions on this one as well!


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